Chief executive of Sainsbury's and lifelong Manchester United fan Justin King said he believes Sir Alex Ferguson has given the club "27 good years" and stated his belief that staff would continue his success in the future.
Mr King was speaking after the release of the supermarket's annual profits.
Supermarket chain Sainsbury's has revealed its full year pre-tax profits are down 1.4% to £788m.
Total sales (including VAT) are up 4.6% to £25.6 million.
Plans have also been announced to take full ownership of Sainsbury’s Bank.
Justin King, chief executive said: We continue to invest in offering customers choices of how they shop with us, bringing our food, clothing and general merchandise to more customers.
"Our decision to take full ownership of Sainsbury?s Bank will add further momentum to our strategy of developing complementary channels for the benefit of both customers and shareholders".
Sainsbury's has reported that like-for-like sales for the year are up by 1.8 per cent (2.1 per cent including fuel).
Sainsbury's, whose products were not affected by the horsemeat scandal, also announced that like-for-like sales for the fourth quarter was up by 3.6 per cent (4.2 including fuel).
Click here for the supermarket's fourth quarter trading statement.
– Sainsbury's spokesmanNo trace of horsemeat has been found in any of our products, however we are playing our part in the wider industry investigation including carrying out further testing.
These have all been negative to date, if we find any horse DNA in our products we will take immediate action.
Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King praised the supermarket chain's strong third-quarter results, he said: "Our colleagues did an outstanding job this Christmas, serving a record number of customers and maintaining excellent levels of customer service and availability.
"The week before Christmas was our strongest trading week ever, with customer transactions exceeding 27 million.
"We saw a record breaking £16 million of sales in one hour between 12pm and 1pm on Sunday 23rd December and experienced our best ever Christmas Eve, at both our supermarket and convenience stores, with over £100 million of sales."
Sainsbury's has posted its third-quarter results, which showed the supermarket chained enjoyed a good Christmas period. The statement showed:
Two people have been arrested after a man was found with suspected stab wounds at a Sainsbury's supermarket.
A 26-year-old man was discovered with two wounds to his shoulder in Lordshill in Southampton just after 6.30am this morning.
The victim, who has not been named but is from Southampton, was taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries, which are serious but not life-threatening.
Hampshire Police said that they think the alleged assault happened at a property in Saturn Close early this morning.
A 28-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, both locals, were held in the same road just after 7.30am on suspicion of causing GBH with intent.
Forensic examinations were being conducted at the scene and CCTV footage was being looked at.
The spot has been sealed off to preserve potential evidence.
The supermarket chain Sainsbury's has reported strong sales for the second quarter of the year, with total sales up 4.3 per cent.
Like-for-like sales were up 1.9 per cent.
Three men have been jailed at Croydon Crown Court for a multimillion-pound scam that saw Sainsbury's overcharged by nearly £9 million by a potato firm.
Andrew Behagg, a former finance director at potato supplier Greenvale, and former Greenvale director David Baxter showered Sainsbury's potato buyer John Maylam with gifts and hospitality in return for lucrative contracts with the supermarket.
Maylam, 45, of Bearsted, Maidstone, Kent, who admitted corruption and acquiring criminal property, was jailed for four years at Croydon Crown Court, in south London.
Baxter, 50, of Hinstock, near Market Drayton in Shropshire, who also admitted corruption and acquiring criminal property, was jailed for 30 months.
Behagg, 60, from Chatteris in Cambridgeshire, who was found guilty of corruption by authorising payments to Maylam following a trial, was jailed for three years.
Shares in Tesco opened nearly 2% higher following the sales update.
Chief executive Philip Clarke said: "Our customers are seeing the evidence of the changes we're making and they're telling us they like what they see."
