Transfer news – Ferguson says United have done their shopping
Published:Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken out to rubbish reports linking Manchester United with big-name signings, by stating that he has done all his transfer business for the summer.
“We bought players at the right time of the season and we are happy with what we have,” he said on the club’s pre-season tour in America.
It seems that because of this bold declaration – well ahead of the transfer deadline – United’s price for regaining the Premier League title has moved out from 7/4 to 2/1.
Ferguson’s words will doubtless give United fans a sense of deja vu; on July 13th 2009 the Scot said this: “It is the end of our business. Stories about who we are supposed to be getting – forget it.”
Last close-season the Red Devils were swift in bringing in Michael Owen, Gabriel Obertan and Antonio Valencia before Ferguson dusted his hands off.
This time the 18-times champions got in quickly to nab Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez to bolster the squad ahead of the World Cup – a squad which is 6/1 to win the Champions League.
Such brisk business hasn’t appeased the team’s followers, though. Most forums are a flutter with debates about whether the tight-string repetition is truly through choice, or is in fact enforced.
A total of five players in two seasons at a cost of around £35million clearly doesn’t balance with the £80million received for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Most of those players will feature in United’s match with Philadelhia Union at 12.30am on Thursday, which the English side are 6/1 to win 3-0.
Ferguson, who is leading United into their 25th campaign, says there isn’t value in the market – and he would know.
But the worry for those backing the team to bounce back from last year’s disappointment, is that the manager is making excuses for the debt loaded onto the club by the Glazer family.
Only Ferguson knows the real answer: if United are in decline, their chances of silverware come May look to rest on another Carling Cup victory (5/1) .
Yet if the boss is right about the side’s youthful potential, as he was at the start of the 1995/96 season, then another double of FA Cup and Premier League, at 12/1, is not out of reach.
Can the man nicknamed The Wizard conjure up a fairytale ending for Manchester United this season? They are 66/1 to repeat their 1999 success of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League wins. See the full Manchester United Specials market.
