RYAN Giggs and Paul Scholes will be resting easy on their sunbeds, despite the cold shadow of the future passing across their holiday beaches.

The signings of Owen Hargreaves, Nani, and Anderson, and the impending announcement of Carlos Tevez as the next big Red capture, will make United's training ground dressing room a congested place once the Copa America is over.

But when the fluttering dollar bills settle and the squad numbers are sorted and dispensed, the side which lines up to begin the Premier League season against fired-up Reading on August 11 will probably look pretty familiar.

Giggs and Scholes are going nowhere just yet, and are more likely to see the arrival of their eventual replacements as little more than a challenge.

That is the ethos of United.

Tevez would almost certainly have been in the line-up but for Argentina's progress in the South American championships.

With the final of the tournament scheduled for July 15, the day after United fly out on their Far East tour, the Argentinian is almost certain to miss the early stages of the Reds' pre-season preparations.

That also goes for Anderson, whose Brazil side are also in the quarter-finals, which take place this weekend, so he will also miss some of United's pre-season and therefore the start of the season.

Nani, as a 20-year-old, will need time to adjust to life in Manchester, as well as the pace and aggression of the Premier League, so a place on the bench is the best for which he can hope.

He would do well to watch videos of United's opening home game of the 2003-04 season, when his Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo watched from the bench against Bolton and then produced half an hour of crowd-pleasing magic to inspire a 4-0 victory.

Future

As well as edging everybody forward in their seats, that 30 minutes of mayhem also convinced Ferguson that this was not a kid for the future, but one for the here and now.

Anderson, for all the ability he has been showing in the Copa America, is still a kid and, if he is seen as the linchpin of future United, is maybe still a little inexperienced to be handed that role in the hurly-burly of the Premiership.

He will get plenty of games in the coming season, but in the crunch fixtures may have to be content to look and learn from Scholes.

Possibly the most intriguing battle which the signings have thrown up is that between Michael Carrick and Hargreaves, a friendly war which will be waged at club and international level.

Of course, there is nothing to prevent them being accommodated alongside each other, but given the talent queuing up to fill the central midfield attacking areas - Scholes, Anderson, Tevez, and Wayne Rooney all like to play in that part of the pitch - they are seen as midfield anchors.

All of this does not even begin to accommodate Ji-sung Park, Darren Fletcher and John O'Shea, who are all knocked backwards by the new arrivals.

United will now seek to off-set their incredible £70million-plus spending spree by selling, with names like Kieran Richardson, Alan Smith, Louis Saha and either Gabriel Heinze or Mikael Silvestre top of the list.

And there remains the possibility that an even bigger name could yet be set to leave - although whispers that Real Madrid have not abandoned their pursuit of Ronaldo may not affect the Footballer of the Year, who will relish the chance to link up with his countryman Nani and fellow Portuguese-speaker Anderson.

If the Reds hold on to all of their star names, it is a fantasy line-up which could, once the new boys have bedded in, establish a new United dynasty into the next decade - especially as Chelsea's wild spending habits appear to have been curbed.

Quarts into pint pots is always a tough test of a manager's measure, but now United are talking about quarts of champagne, you can bet that Fergie's cup runneth over.

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