Former Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic says he wants to become a “real manager” rather than just a modern-day coach.

The 36-year-old, who is in the middle of completing his coaching badges, says players these days have more power than managers,

But he said football has changed in the two years since he retired, and players now have “more power” than managers.

“I think the role of the manager has changed – he is becoming a coach,” the former Serbia defender said in an interview with the BBC.

“Players want the money and have more power – more power than the managers. It could frustrate me.

“When I was a player I don’t think I used my power. I didn’t think I was above the manager; I respected the manager. For me, it was coach, manager, CEO, owner.

“I don’t have experience to talk about players from a manager’s view, but the players definitely have the power now.”

“There are no more managers any more, just coaches now,” said Vidic, who played for eight years under Sir Alex Ferguson, arguably the last successful old-school manager given the recent travails of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. “I would like to be a real manager.”

“Alex Ferguson made it look easy,” he added. “You watched him and thought: ‘I would like to do that.’ But then I went to play in Italy. Then it didn’t look the same.

The Serbian says he would prefer being a manager to a pundit like his former colleagues in United’s back-line, Gary Neville, and Rio Ferdinand.

“I understand it is difficult – but I have played football all my life. For 28 years, I had about 15 managers. It’s what I know.”

“I am used to the stress. Winning, losing, happy, sad. You want to win again. You want to prove something. You want to make the difficult decisions and test yourself.”

Vidic won five Premier League titles, one Champions League, three League Cups and a Club World Cup with United, and was the last Red Devils captain to lift the league trophy.