My spending spree is over, says Ferguson
MANCHESTER United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insists he has closed his chequebook for the summer – despite landing £80m from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ferguson yesterday officially welcomed close season signings Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan to the club.
The trio cost little more than £20m between them, but, having failed to land France striker Karim Benzema, Ferguson is adamant he will not plunder any more of the Ronaldo windfall.
“It is the end of our business, so all these stories about who we are supposed to be getting – forget it,” said Ferguson. “I feel we have a good squad, which meant there was no need for knee-jerk reactions.”
Benzema left Lyon to join Ronaldo at Real Madrid earlier this month, and Ferguson added: “We asked about Benzema and we had a value for him but I think we took a sensible view.”
Owen, looking to revive his career after a disappointing spell at Newcastle that ended in relegation, is set to inherit Ronaldo’s No7 shirt, and Ferguson backed the England outcast to rediscover his old form.
“Michael gives us experience in the penalty box, which is vital,” said Ferguson. “I know he will score a lot of goals for us. He has been great at that for years.”
Owen will replace Carlos Tevez in United’s forward line, after the Argentine rejected a permanent deal at Old Trafford. Tevez confirmed his decision last month, but Ferguson said the news was no surprise after his text messages went unanswered.
“I think he did a deal around January,” Ferguson said. “I phoned him on holiday and he never got back to me and I texted him twice and he never got back to me then either.”
Former Liverpool trainee Owen’s stock fell dramatically at Newcastle, but he insists he is far from finished.
“It does irritate me that so many people have doubts,” he said.
“There’s no doubt I have had injuries in my career. But I’m 29 and have played over 500 games for club and country. That says it all.”