Beckham: Fergie's right, I'm not world class

His name was a notable omission when Sir Alex Ferguson listed the four Manchester United players under his charge that he deemed to be world-class footballers.

But David Beckham is taking no offence after seemingly being snubbed by the legendary ex-Red Devils manager who gave the gave the gong to Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo.

When asked by the BBC if he felt insulted by the Scot's perceived slight, the former United midfielder said: "Not at all.

"I played for the greatest manager of all time for the amount of time that I did, I was lucky to have played with the players I did and the team and be successful with the club that I loved and still love.

"I tend to agree with the manager, there's certain players that you can call world-class, thankfully I played with many of them."

Beckham, who became a household name because of his trademark curling free-kicks and pinpoint crosses from the right wing, spent a glittering 12 years at United where he made 394 apperances, scoring 85 goals.

But he famously fell out with Ferguson, who shipped him to Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2003 for £25 million ($54.2m).

The former England captain was speaking in New York as a goodwill ambassador for Unicef during a United Nations event to unveil a digital installation titled Assembly of Youth.

David Beckham at the launch of Unicef's Assembly of Youth digital installation at the United Nations in New York. PHOTO: AFP

Recently, the 40-year-old admitted that one of his sons – believed to be eldest child Brooklyn – had been having doubts about following in his famous father's footsteps.

Speaking to ABC News, Beckham said: "One of my boys turned around to me the other day and said, 'Daddy, you know, I'm not sure if I want to play football all the time because every time that I step onto the field, I know people are saying this is David Beckham's son and if I'm not as good as you, it's not good enough.

"It broke my heart a little bit, but I said, 'Stop right there. You play because you want to play and because it makes you happy'."

Brooklyn, 16, had been playing for Arsenal's academy side along but was released by the north London club earlier this year.

Sources: BBC via Goal.com, ABC News