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Scotsman: SIR ALEX Ferguson is prepared to risk title winners Manchester United getting beaten by Chelsea tonight in order to preserve a sense of fair play in the relegation battle.
Scrapping it out at the bottom is a concept alien to Ferguson apart from one very brief flirtation with danger during his early days at the club.
Yet he is acutely aware all eyes will be on Old Trafford this weekend when United entertain a West Ham side looking for the point that will guarantee their safety.
Ferguson’s long-time friendship with Alan Curbishley extends to the Scot presenting the Hammers boss with a return air ticket to New Zealand at the end of last season so his Premiership rival could see his sister after announcing he was stepping down as Charlton manager.
But Ferguson is eager to make it clear Curbishley can expect no favours this weekend, with Sheffield United and Wigan also scrapping for their lives.
And the Scot’s determination to ensure he has a full strength side available to face the Hammers means he will rest a number of key man at Stamford Bridge as his team head south to meet the side they have just deposed as champions.
“The West Ham game is a very important issue,” said Ferguson.
“We have to respect our reputation. Alan Curbishley is a good friend of mine but he understands we have to respect the wishes of other managers.
“I get on very well with Paul Jewell as well. They both deserve our best attention to the game and I will be picking a team to win on Sunday.
“I don’t know what my team will be at Chelsea but there will be a lot of changes, simply because the players are so tired.”
In fact, Ferguson revealed even if Chelsea had beaten Arsenal on Sunday to prolong the title battle, he was considering fielding a less than full-strength side at Stamford Bridge in the belief that a fully fired-up United could have collected the point required to lift the trophy against West Ham four days later. “I know it would have been controversial but when you consider Chelsea’s home record in the last few seasons, I could have played my best team and still lost,” he admitted.
“In the event, I am glad we are going there as champions. It would have been some game if we weren’t.”
Among those likely to miss out are winger Ryan Giggs and midfielder Paul Scholes.
Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar may also get a rest, while Ferguson will assess the fitness of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic very carefully, reluctant to take any risks with two of the men he believes have been key to United’s success this season.
“Everyone saw the difference it made to us defensively when Vidic and Ferdinand were back together at Manchester City on Saturday,” said Ferguson.
“They were absolutely peerless. We have been looking for that foundation of strength in central defence for a long time.”
Jose Mourinho has promised his players will applaud United onto the pitch tonight, just as Ferguson ordered his team to do in similar circumstances two years ago.
Mourinho is likely to be without Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben again through injury after they missed the 1-1 draw at Arsenal. Michael Ballack (ankle) and Andriy Shevchenko (hernia) are also out, as is Ricardo Carvalho (knee). Young strikers Scott Sinclair and Ben Sahar are added to the squad.
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Independent: The Newcastle United striker Michael Owen will be the first target for Sir Alex Ferguson this summer with the new Premiership champions eager to take advantage of a clause in the player’s contract that will make him one of the summer’s best bargains. Owen should be available to leave St James’ Park for around £9m.
Should a deal be struck, there is understood to be no major objections from the man himself about joining the oldest rivals of his first club Liverpool who passed up the chance to re-sign him in 2005 when he left Real Madrid. The 27-year-old found his old club outbid then by Newcastle but the clause in his contract means that he will be able to leave the north-east for much less than the £17m paid for him two years ago.
Manchester United have explored the possibility of signing Dimitar Berbatov but, having agreed a deal of up to £18.6m for Michael Carrick last year, have been told that on this occasion Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to price the Bulgarian international out the market. Owen fits the bill for Old Trafford in more than one way, he brings the guarantee of goals and he comes cheaper than usual for a former European footballer of the year.
The dispute between the Football Association and Newcastle over who pays Owen’s wages following his World Cup injury has all but disclosed that the player is on £110,000-a-week which would put him among the top earners at Old Trafford. As usual, any reports of Owen leaving Newcastle where injury has prevented him playing more than 13 games in two years, are likely to be met with a firm riposte from St James Park but there is no question that Manchester United are interested.
The Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is yet to appoint a new manager since Glenn Roeder’s departure and Owen’s future is likely to play a significant role in that deal. However, regardless of the bad luck Newcastle may have had with Owen’s metatarsal injury last year, and this season’s cruciate, the original release clause was there for just this kind of move. It would not play well with the Newcastle public, but they might wish to question why such an agreement was brokered in the first place.
Ferguson has lacked a more traditional goalscoring poacher since the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy last summer and, with the injuries to Louis Saha, there has not been a settled strike partner for Wayne Rooney. Owen would also suit the high-tempo, pressing game that United have switched to over the last season in the absence of the Dutchman.
“Speed is important to us,” Ferguson said. “The way we play we need that in the team. At the moment we are looking whether we can get more speed.”
With deals also likely for Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Bale, Ferguson will certainly test the finances of the club under the Glazer ownership this summer.
In the meantime, he is expected to pick a strong United side to play at Stamford Bridge tonight as his champions attempt to be the first team to inflict Chelsea’s first home Premiership defeat since Jose Mourinho took over. The Chelsea manager is expected to rest Didier Drogba.
United’s Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has recorded an appeal for the return of the missing English girl Madeleine McCann who was abducted while on a family holiday in the Algarve on Thursday.
Ronaldo filmed the appeal in English and Portuguese before travelling with the United squad to London for tonight’s game at Stamford Bridge.
The appeal was made at the request of the British foreign office staff in Portugal who thought that his huge profile in his home country would draw attention to the hunt for the missing three-year-old.
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Times: Manchester United have scored by far the most goals in the Barclays Premiership this season but could still do with a reliable poacher. Only Dirk Kuyt, of Liverpool’s quartet of forwards, can be sure of being at Anfield in August. And then there are the misfiring Andriy Shevchenko and Salomon Kalou at Stamford Bridge.
Replenishing their attacking resources will be at the forefront of the minds of the leading managers and one name will surely figure alongside Fernando Torres, David Villa and Jermain Defoe as the top clubs balance needs with budgets. At 27, Michael Owen is by far and away his country’s leading scorer and, because of unusual circumstances, is available for less than £10 million.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafael Benítez could spend a long time scouring the transfer market before they will find a striker with a career ratio of 0.51 goals per game for that sort of money. And, as a pained Steve McClaren will tell you after England’s struggles in front of goal, a big-match temperament is priceless.
Having been ruled out for most of this season with a serious knee injury, Owen insists that he is back stronger than ever and those close to him can detect a renewed appetite for football. Removing him from action for ten months has relit his competitive fires, although his delight at returning has quickly been tested by two defeats for Newcastle United.
There is an argument that Owen has to stay at Newcastle and drag them up the league to repay a debt that comes from having played only 13 times in two injury-ravaged seasons. It is an argument that might hold water if Tottenham Hotspur or Sunderland were bidding, but could Owen seriously be expected to turn down United or Liverpool and the chance to compete for the title and to play in the Champions League?
He has spoken many times about the guilt that he feels towards the club who rescued him from an unhappy year at Real Madrid, but when they outbid Liverpool by £5 million two years ago, Newcastle knew that they were batting far above their station. It is why they had to put release clauses in his contract and to make him the highest-paid Englishman in the Premiership on more than £110,000 a week.
They did so knowing that, for the clauses not to be triggered, they would have to be competing at the top end of the table and to have become a ride worth staying on. Having just removed the second manager in Owen’s time with the departure of Glenn Roeder, they have hardly kept up their side of the deal. Newcastle have suffered terrible luck with Owen’s injury, among others, but the club remain a byword for instability and chronic underachievement.
It is a situation ripe for predators, particularly if the encouraging signs of Owen’s first two comeback matches – the robust challenges, the clever runs, even the frustration at the missed chances – are repeated away to Watford on Sunday and in England’s matches against Albania, Brazil and Estonia, in which he will hope to score his first goal since June last year.
If the top clubs decide to pursue other targets, the new manager at St James’ Park (ie, Sam Allardyce) will be lucky beyond his dreams when he inherits a forward with 36 goals in 80 games for England and whose worth has only been enhanced in his long absence. But the new manager should know that it is beyond his control and beyond Newcastle’s. It is down now to Ferguson and Benítez.
Ronaldo blow for marketing machine: Just as the title party started in Manchester on Sunday night, two exiles from Old Trafford were too busy to pine for what might have been. David Beckham and Ruud van Nistelrooy have had plenty of reasons to look back at their former United teammates with envy, but they had their own big match for Real Madrid. Both were important figures in the 3-2 victory over Seville that marked a sixth win in seven matches for Fabio Capello’s team.
Real are only two points behind Barcelona, the leaders, and, after yet another season of turmoil, have a chance of sending Beckham off to the United States with his first medal after four difficult seasons.
Only the hardest of hearts would begrudge the former England captain a victorious finale, but the mistake would be to think that a championship would mark a transformation in Real’s fortunes. A great institution is still run by the marketing department. A reminder of that came with Real’s recent attempts to drag Beckham on a ludicrous postseason tour to the US and to squeeze every last drop of publicity out of him before he heads to Los Angeles Galaxy.
The football club will reemerge one day, but, as José Antonio Reyes has been the latest to discover, the Bernabéu can be a graveyard of reputations and Cristiano Ronaldo showed more wisdom than José Mourinho gives him credit for in turning down a lucrative offer from Real. There will be a time to pull on the dazzling white shirt, but not this summer – not even if they finish top of La Liga.
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Mail: Sir Alex Ferguson has identified Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o as Manchester United’s No 1 summer transfer target.
The United boss has said he hopes to make three major signings to strengthen the new Premier League champions and Sportsmail understands the first steps have already been taken to sign Cameroon striker Eto’o, 26, for around £27million.
Pini Zahavi, the Israeli super agent whose son Alex is a youth team striker at Barcelona, is being enlisted to try to complete the deal, while Eto’o’s friendship with Rio Ferdinand — who interestingly is a client of Zahavi’s — is also thought to be a factor in United’s favour.
Only this week Ferguson talked of adding pace to his attack — and few are quicker than Eto’o.
“When you’re building a team you need to think about balance,” said Ferguson as he talked of his plans for a season he hopes will end with that elusive second European Cup.
“Speed is important to us. At the moment that’s what we’re looking at. Whether we can get more speed.”
Eto’o has been unsettled at the Nou Camp since a fall-out with manager Frank Rijkaard and team-mate Ronaldinho in February.
The three-times African Player of the Year had just returned after missing four months with a knee injury when Rijkaard accused him publicly of refusing to play as a substitute against Santander.
Furious Eto’o said: “Telling a news conference I didn’t want to play is the behaviour of a bad person.”
Adding that he had not had time to warm up, he said: “I have always thought about the group first. That is what hurt me most.”
When Ronaldinho suggested Eto’o was inconsiderate to team-mates, the Cameroon striker said: “If a team-mate says that you must think of the team, it’s up to him to think of the team.”
Competition for a striker who has scored 10 goals in his last 14 appearances for Barcelona is sure to be strong. Chelsea have also expressed an interest — as have AC Milan, Liverpool and Arsenal.
According to sources, Eto’o has already indicated that a move to Old Trafford would appeal to him.
If Ferguson is successful, he will have spent most of his £50m summer transfer budget on two players, with Bayern Munich likely to want £20m for their England midfielder Owen Hargreaves.
The Germans desperately need funds for a major overhaul of their faltering squad and supremo Franz Beckenbauer said: “We have to build a new team. It will come at a high price and we have to find ways of paying it.”
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Guardian: Dimitar Berbatov is poised to kill off the possibility of a lucrative move to Manchester United this summer by pledging his future to Tottenham Hotspur for at least another year.
The Bulgarian, who has had an impressive first season in the Premiership with 22 goals in all competitions, is believed to be high on Sir Alex Ferguson’s wanted list. Tottenham, though, are adamant Berbatov is not for sale and the 26-year-old has made it clear he is not angling for a move to the new champions or Chelsea, who have also been linked with the striker.
The player’s agent, Emil Dantchev, said last month that Berbatov would remain at White Hart Lane for a minimum of another season and yesterday confirmed that was still the player’s position. “Nothing has changed - except for the number of goals that he has scored,” he said. “He is very happy with Tottenham.”
Berbatov cost £10.9m from Bayer Leverkusen and his performances in both the Premiership and the Uefa Cup have been noted across the Continent.
Tottenham’s ambition was questioned in some quarters when Michael Carrick was sold to United for £18.6m last year but the head coach, Martin Jol, has said there are “no circumstances” under which Berbatov would have to be sold. Jol is adamant that the beat of the Bulgarian, who has been named in the Premiership’s team of the year, is yet to come. “He would be in my team of the year, but there is a lot of room for improvement,” he said. “He’s not surprised me, but the only thing is how they gel with other players when they come from a different country. After a couple of weeks, he was always on fire.
“I think Dimitar can score 20 in the Premiership because there are players doing that and I think he is as talented as any other player. In Germany, he scored on average over 20 goals and that is a good league.” Berbatov has hit 12 goals in the Premiership.
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Mail: Sir Alex Ferguson may look back at his title winning season with only a few regrets. Missing out on a Champions League Final is the obvious example. Not signing Dimitar Berbatov when he had the chance last summer is likely to be another.
The Manchester United manager has admitted he is looking for three quality reinforcements in the summer and although Sportsmail reveals today that Samuel Eto’o of Barcelona is top of his wish-list, Berbatov is certainly on his radar.
Indeed, the former Bayer Leverkusen striker is likely to be the most coveted Premiership player in the transfer window given the start he has made to his career on these shores.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is also an admirer of a player who, at times, appears to be the closest thing to Arsenal’s Thierry Henry, although perhaps without the Frenchman’s lightning pace.
While United and Chelsea are realistically the only two teams with the financial wherewithal and kudos to tempt Berbatov, no one at Tottenham has the intention of parting company with the 26-year-old after his magnificent debut season.
Spurs manager Martin Jol is adamant Berbatov is happy in north London and does not view his time at White Hart Lane as a stepping stone to bigger things.
Thus, while Ferguson is predicted to have a £50million war chest at his disposal, Tottenham’s propensity to drive a hard bargain — just look at the £18.6m they prised from United for Michael Carrick — means any chance of landing Berbatov would blow a large hole in that budget.
That Ferguson did not make a concerted move for Berbatov last summer perhaps had much to do with the fact he could not predict what an impact the Bulgaria star would have, coupled with the fact that the future of Ruud van Nistelrooy was still up in the air when negotiations were ongoing.
There can be no doubts about Berbatov’s suitability for English football now — his performances in Europe for Spurs have helped take his goal tally to 22. The £10.9m Spurs paid Leverkusen already looks like a steal.
To his credit, Berbatov refused to have his head turned by the chance of playing at Old Trafford last year, given Tottenham’s long-standing interest and their dedication to pushing the deal through.
Now Jol must prove to Berbatov that Spurs’ ambitions can match those of his star attraction.
The Dutchman has been canny when offered the chance to heap praise on Berbatov for his achievements this season.
His cautious approach was in evidence in his post-match comments on Monday after Berbatov ended Charlton’s seven-year stay in the top flight with a typically classy goal before setting up Jermain Defoe for the visitors’ second.
Was Berbatov the best signing of he season? “Could be, could be. For us, he’s excellent quality,” was Jol’s understated reply before setting his forward the task of netting 20 Premiership goals in the next campaign. He has managed 11 with one League game remaining this term.
In fairness to Berbatov, he does not strike you as the type to let the praise from opposition managers, players and pundits go to his head.
But Jol should be commended all the same for striving to keep his feet firmly on the ground. Not that Berbatov is short of fans inside the White Hart Lane dressing room.
“Priceless,” was how Jermaine Jenas chose to describe his team-mate after his performance at The Valley, adding: “I’d love him to be English.
“He’s been brilliant for us. He puts in the work. When he does things like he did against Charlton they don’t come as a surprise to us because he’s been doing them day in, day out.
“We’re a club who are about building and if we want to keep pushing forward we need to keep players like Dimitar.”
Berbatov’s strike partners Robbie Keane and Defoe would no doubt agree given that his talent for assists has been largely responsible for them netting 21 and 17 goals respectively.
Opposition defenders, while having suffered at the hands of Berbatov’s skills, are equally appreciative of his ability.
Being voted into the Professional Footballers’ Association Premiership Team of the Year is testament to the esteem in which he is held.
One defender who voted for him is Jonathan Woodgate and having been on the receiving end of Berbatov’s scoring touch twice this season, the Middlesbrough centre back said: “He scored a tremendous volley at our place and he was a constant threat all game.
“If Manchester United come in for him they will have to bid a hell of a lot of money. There’s bound to be a lot of speculation about where he’s going to play next season.
“It will show what kind of club Tottenham are, whether they decide to keep him or sell him.”
Spurs fans will be eager to know the answer to that question, too. But if it cost Chelsea £31m to land Andriy Shevchenko, Berbatov’s price tag must now be in a similar bracket if either Mourinho or Ferguson decide to make their move for one the League’s hottest properties.
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Sun: CRISTIANO RONALDO was rewarded for winning the title with just four days’ extra pay!
Manchester United’s players were not on huge incentives to win their first Premiership crown since 2003.
And though he collected £68,000, the cash payout amounts to little more than pocket money for a player who earns £120,000 a week as the double Footballer of the Year.
Old Trafford chiefs reckon the squad is so well paid they do not need large bonuses for picking up any silverware.
They shared a £1million pool between them for seeing off Chelsea’s challenge.
The amount each player received was based on the number of appearances made throughout the season.
That meant every appearance was worth just over £2,000 per man. Ronaldo, 22, along with Wayne Rooney, 21, and Rio Ferdinand, 28, played the most games — 33 each.
So in the end all three players each picked up £68,000 extra.
A United source said: “In the old days, bonuses could almost double your wages but those times are long gone.
“Players across the world would rather have guaranteed earnings than big money for trophies.
“As a result, the bonuses are now relatively small.”
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has contacted Ronaldo to say sorry for claiming he was ill-educated and lacking maturity.
Ronaldo revealed: “Mourinho has apologised to me and now I have no problem with him.
“I am pleased that this has happened. As far as I am concerned the whole thing is now in the past.”
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Mail: With the Premiership title back at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he feared Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was going to win the crown for the London club on his own.
Ferguson’s Manchester United players will be given a guard of honour by the deposed champions as they enter the field for Wednesday night’s game between the clubs at Stamford Bridge.
The United manager has spoken of his admiration for Ivory Coast international Drogba — who has scored 31 goals this season including 19 in the Premiership — and jokingly suggested he wondered if the only way to stop him was to shoot him.
Ferguson said: “I kept saying to people: ‘Will somebody please shoot Drogba?’ because his performances were unbelievable.
“He carried their team, I thought, and he kept getting these incredible goals. Like the one at Everton with the last kick of the ball. That was incredible.
“I thought he may win the title on his own at one point, but the drawback for them was that he had to play all the games because they couldn’t leave him out.
“I remember us watching Drogba before they bought him. But the price was about £25million.
“That was a lot at the time. He had only had one season at Marseille. But they took the risk and paid for him. He is a powerful lad, a massive physique. He has strength and plays every game.”
One of the challenges facing Ferguson this summer is to find a striker who can replicate Drogba’s contribution — but in a red shirt.
The United manager has lost faith with current No 9 Louis Saha, and the France international is again frustrating his boss by complaining of a hamstring injury.
Ferguson added: “You look around the world and ask yourself where the strikers are. There aren’t a lot of them around.
“I think we’d be quite happy at the moment to stay with the ones we have. But we will see.
“When you’re building a team you need to think about balance. Speed is important to us, for example.
“The way we play we need that in the team. That’s what we’re looking for at the moment — whether we can get more speed.”
Both clubs are expected to play under-strength teams on Wednesday night as they prepare for their FA Cup final clash a week on Saturday.
Chelsea will be without last summer’s big-name signings Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack — who are both injured — and it is clear that Ferguson is relieved the two buys did not pay off for coach Jose Mourinho.
Ferguson said: “I was quite happy that they were signing those type of players because I felt they were going to concentrate on Europe.
“I thought it was designed to get them the European Cup so I wasn’t too concerned. I thought: ‘I hope they can concentrate on that and leave the league to us’.
“That would have been very nice of them but of course they didn’t do that. They challenged us all the way.”
United are still disappointed about not reaching the Champions League final but 1968 European Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton says he has been thrilled by their performances.
Charlton — a United director — said: “They’ve been very, very impressive and it has been a thrill to watch them.
“When you’re a director of a football club the best bit about it is the football, not the finance or the politics. It’s the football.
“As long as we produce this fantastic football the fans are quite happy. And so am I.
“It’s the old philosophy of Sir Matt Busby. He used to say to us: ‘The working lads in Trafford Park , they have a boring existence for the whole week and it’s your job to make sure they have a good time on Saturday. So don’t be boring’.
“There’s certainly no chance of that with the players we’ve got at present. What Sir Alex Ferguson has done with the team is remarkable.
“Last year we were out of the Premiership by October but this time it’s been so different. I never doubted we’d be back and I’m delighted.”
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Sun: ALEX FERGUSON taunted Liverpool by saying he is going to toast their Champions League final defeat — with a bottle of wine from AC Milan’s coach.
The Manchester United boss insists the Kop will crash to Milan, who beat the Red Devils last week. Fergie even told San Siro chief Carlo Ancelotti the Italians would win on May 23 in Athens.
Ferguson, who takes his Premiership champions to Chelsea tonight, said: “I’d bet for sure that Milan will win the Champions League, I’m absolutely certain of it.
“I told Carlo at the end of our semi-final that there is no way he can now not win this competition.
“Carlo gave me a magnificent bottle of wine.
“But I immediately told him there is no point in giving such a wonderful gift if he then fails in the final.
“In fact, I told him I would only drink his wine once I see him lifting the Champions Cup.”
Ferguson bases his prediction on the performance of Milan against his side in the Champions League second-leg, semi-final last Wednesday.
United took a 3-2 lead to Italy but were soundly thumped 3-0 — after goals from Kaka, Clarence Seedorf and Alberto Gilardino — to go out 5-3 on aggregate.
Ferguson added: “Milan’s second-leg victory over us was stupendous, fantastic and extraordinary.
“I know we paid a high price for the Premiership fightback which we needed at Everton to turn a 2-0 scoreline into a 4-2 victory.
“Last week, Milan were fresher and better prepared tactically and physically.
“I’m still trying to analyse and understand the factors involved. But the truth remains we faced one of the best performances in the entire history of AC Milan.”
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Manchester City defender Michael Ball has been charged with violent conduct by the Football Association after stamping on Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo.
Match referee Rob Styles missed the second-minute incident during the 147th Manchester derby at the City of Manchester Stadium which left dual PFA Footballer and Young Player of the Year Ronaldo with an ugly scar on his stomach.
Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who launched a furious tirade at the assistant referee closest to the United dug-out, condemned Ball for his stamp after seeing his men win 1-0.
Ronaldo’s 34th-minute penalty, after he was brought down by Ball, put the Red Devils on course to claim their ninth Premiership which was confirmed by Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Arsenal last Sunday.
Ferguson said of the incident: “They told me at the time the lad had stamped on him but it wasn’t until the night time I actually saw what he did. I could not believe it. I don’t know what got into him.
“It was the first minute of the game. I don’t know if it was instructions, or he was hyped up. It was incredible. The game has changed since the 1960s, when there was a lot of really vicious tackling but you don’t see that kind of thing nowadays. Cameras are everywhere.”
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Belfast Telegraph: John Laverty- My sense of timing was never the best.
A month ago, in this column, I wrote a rather damning piece about Manchester United, citing that their squad simply wasn’t good enough to achieve anything of note on the European stage.
Some 24 hours later, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men produced one of the most astonishing performances in the history of European football, blasting seven goals past Roma.
Even the hapless Darren Fletcher, one of the players I singled out for criticism, looked like a world beater that night.
So I’d got it wrong, then? Well, no, not really.
That 7-1 victory in the Champions League quarter-final was indeed one of those performances that will never be forgotten by us mad Mancs - but those delirious fans who swept out of Old Trafford beaming that “it doesn’t get any better than this” were, sadly, right.
And last Wednesday night, it was men against boys as Milan tossed United aside like a used handkerchief in the semi-final.
Even the Premiership title win, secured courtesy of Chelsea failing to beat Arsenal on Sunday, felt rather anti-climactic - more like them losing it than us winning it.
You certainly won’t be reading any of those ridiculous “we’ll dominate for years” headlines that normally follow a championship victory.
Manchester United certainly won’t dominate any league with Louis Saha as their main striker, Michael Carrick as their anchor midfielder and a choice of either Gabriel Heinze (how far downhill has he gone since that long-term injury?) or Patrice Evra at left back.
Luckily, Ferguson is well aware of this, hence the intense speculation that Dimitar Berbatov, Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Bale are on their way in the summer.
It seems churlish, as a Red Devils fan, to be underwhelmed at United landing a NINTH title under Fergie, and having done so in during a period when moneybags Chelsea were meant to rule the roost for the next two centuries at least.
But with United, the European Cup/Champions League will always be their holy grail - and Ferguson has managed to climb that particular mountain only once in 21 years at the helm.
The old man won’t need it pointed out to him that there’s a portly Spaniard residing just a few miles down the East Lancs Road who is about to lead Liverpool into their SECOND Champions League final in THREE seasons.
This is the trophy the real clubs are measured against and, although Liverpool are a long way off winning a Premiership title, they remain welded on most observers’ lips as a traditional European superpower.
My, how that must rile Fergie!
And, although there is (mild) speculation that Sir Alex, 65, might retire now that he has actually reached retirement age, my guess is that not even a tenth title next year would satisfy him.
No, the man is desperate to get his hands on another European Cup.
That spectacular caning of Roma briefly suggested it was possible, but ultimately proved that United had merely reached their season’s peak that glorious evening.
Beating Chelsea in the forthcoming FA Cup final at the revamped Wembley, to clinch a fourth ‘Double’ in the Ferguson era, would still not make up for the disappointment of another failed European campaign.
One thing is certain; if Fergie does decide to call it a day he won’t announce it in advance like the last time, five years ago.
My guess, however, is that Ferguson will soldier on for, at the most, two more seasons.
And if he manages to land the aforementioned trio of transfer targets United will be short odds for a successful defence of their newly-acquired Premiership title - and perhaps a little closer to conquering Europe again.
One other big attraction about next season is the presence of former United skipper Roy Keane - as a top-flight manager with promoted Sunderland.
I heard one happy Black Cats fan on the radio at the weekend predicting that, under the brooding Keane, the North East club would become a major force in the Premiership.
The irony of course is that, if they do, the boul’ Keane will be on his way to a bigger and better job.
Somewhere in the Greater Manchester area, methinks…
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Sky: Franck Ribery has alerted England’s top clubs by claiming he would be interested in a move to Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea should he decide to leave Marseille in the summer.
The French international has been given permission to leave Stade Velodrome if a suitable offer materialises, but his long-term future could yet be preserved if Marseille manage to secure a place in the UEFA Champions League in the last three games of the season.
Should l’OM fail to do so, then there is likely to be a long list of candidates for Ribery’s signature as he has become one of the continent’s hottest properties over the past 12 months.
Whilst seemingly ruling out a move to either Lyon or Bayern Munich, Ribery has explained he could be swayed by an offer to join one of Europe’s biggest sides.
“It is true last summer OL were very interested in me, but now I am only attracted by abroad. If I would leave, it would only be for a foreign club,” Ribery told France Football.
“I know I am not very excited by a country like Germany. I prefer English and Spanish leagues.
“The clubs that make me dream? Manchester, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea and Milan.
“Money won’t make me choose because there is money in any of those clubs. I just want to play, I don’t want to change my club just to stay on the bench.”
Marseille are currently just one point shy of second-placed Lens following Sunday’s 2-1 win over Monaco, a game in which Ribery claimed his fifth goal of the Ligue 1 campaign.
With a Champions League place a distinct possibility, Ribery has not ruled out extending his stay at Stade Velodrome.
“The day I leave Marseille, I would like to leave with my head held high, serene,” Ribery added.
“My priority is to play Champions League football next season and why not with Marseille? I will do my best for l’OM to reach it.
“Then we will see what happens by the end of the season.”
