Ferguson hasn’t made a marquee signing since the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez in 2009.
He failed to bring in top target Wesley Sneijder last summer – and despite a massive injury list, only signed City youth prospect Frederic Veseli during the
January transfer window.
The Premier League champions’ only other major ‘signing’ last month was Paul Scholes, who made the shock decision to come out of retirement after hanging his boots up at the end of last season.
American owners the Glazers have saddled the club with enormous debt since taking charge in 2005 – and supporters fear massive interest repayments mean Ferguson cannot compete for the biggest names.
Ferguson has long complained of a lack of value in the market and has instead set his sights on emerging talent like Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez.
He said: “I’ve had the opportunity to work with a more long-term view and change direction towards where I think it should go.
“I can plan two or three years ahead, which is something that doesn’t happen hardly anywhere else. This is a results industry and if a manager loses four or five games in a row then his job is under threat.
“But at United that scenario simply isn’t possible. I’m in charge of all footballing matters, including our scouting network and youth teams.
“In that sense I’m very fortunate, because I can make quick decisions on who to bring in next to strengthen the squad and where to get them from.”
Ajax ace has to impress Sir Alex Ferguson...and his players
Sir Alex Ferguson: Manchester United not too far away from Barcelona and Real Madrid
Ferguson has unleashed his latest generation of starlets on the Premier League this season with Jones, Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley tipped for bright futures at the club.
But he admits United have struggled to develop players of the quality of the golden generation of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and David Beckham. He insists that will change following new regulations relaxing the rules on how far clubs can scout for the brightest talent in England.
“A few years ago the requirement was brought in that you could only sign young players that lived within an hour-and-a-half radius of the club’s headquarters,” he said. “It wasn’t like that before, which was how we were able to sign such fantastic young lads.
“But since it became physically impossible to find six or seven players a year so close by, we decided to change the priorities of our scouting system.
“As a result, we started to bring in very talented players from abroad and we’ve had success that way. But it’s true, in terms of developing players from within the club, it’s been a long time since we produced a player of David Beckham’s calibre.
“But the legislation changed again a short while back and it’ll be like it was 15 years ago once more, so I’m very optimistic we’ll be able to get the production line we had in the past going again.”
Meanwhile, Sir Alex is ‘optimistic’ about his side’s title chances and believes their level is not far away from that of Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The champions are just two points behind Premier League leaders City and temporarily topped the table after beating Liverpool on Saturday.
Ferguson is determined to push City all the way in a season in which he endured the disappointment of an early exit from the Champions League.
The Scot said: “We’ve had our ups and downs and we’ve been unlucky with injuries.
“We’ve had a lot of them, which you don’t expect, and we’ve got people like Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher out for the whole season.
“You can replace your best players for a game or two, but you really notice the difference over a longer period, and that’s what’s happened to us.
“Even so, we’re fighting hard to win the Premiership again and there’s a lot of merit in that. Obviously I’m optimistic about our chances.”
United have reached the Champions League final three times in the past four seasons but went out at the group stage this term after two damaging results – a draw and a defeat – against Basel.
He said: “I feel we had the ability to go all the way to the final.
“Luck wasn’t on our side, but I think we’ve got the ambition to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid, and I don’t feel we’re that far away from them. I’m sure we’ll show that soon.” Tweet
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In Fergie we Trust .... Time & time again he's proved he's the best
Whenever SAF gas had money he has spent it, and spent big. The no value line is bull and most people can see that. Only the Pravda mob and a couple of their followers on here believe that the hundreds of millions of debt and interest repayments have not had a negative impact on our buying power, and this at a time when we are recording record turnover
Like I said on another thread this buy them young philosophy is common to almost all clubs. Every club would prefer to buy players when they are younger and cheaper. Even Real Madrid do this. The difference now is that we are not supplementing this with bringing I'm some genuine top quality along with it because we don't want to spend the money that entails.
And i totally agree, SAF is calling all of the shots at Old Trafford,Also at the FA. The Refs Association, Anfield, and anywhere else he can stick his big interfering nose in,
SAF is getting a bit too big for his old boots ,
How old is this story ?!!!!
Since the sale of Ronaldo the gutter press have made it their mission to stir up as much fear as possible over the available transfer funds at Manchester United.
Unfortunately the more gullible amongst our own have been sucked into it, I have every faith in the finances of our Football club we are well set and our financially dependant on the money generated by our own club.
Football is changing, mark my words FFP is only the beginning, like the falling of tiny stones that starts an avalanche, the more money that is injected into Football inevitably means fans of clubs that don't have sugar daddy's will be fleeced so that their own respective clubs can meet the new wage brackets and transfer fees, fans wont stand for it forever and Football is going money mad and its all going to come tumbling down sooner rather than later, caps on wages and a similar FFP themed policy to hit the PL and other leagues because the way its going at the moment is ridiculous.
I don't know if these comments were meant to encourage anyone or not. Now you've spoiled the plot. Some of the deluded on this site have, at least in their own mind, been of the opinion that the transfer policy is like it is because you have not been allowed any money from the Glazers.
Now you're saying that is not the case - what are they going to use as a comfort blanket now that excuse has gone. And I just love the "quick decision" comment - the only one I can think of was Bebe, enough said.
This should be really interesting.
Cue ???????(don't need the names everyone knows who they are).
i see the very average fergie favorite fletcher gets a mention ,any well else notice carricks form since fletcher has been out
Very clever statement no way to prove the truth of it one way or the other .Unless of course
we do sign a big one .Im not holding my Breath on that .I just think its a bit strange that this
change in philosophy appears to coincide with the arrival of the Glazers
paul pogba is the answer to solve the mid depatment.pls tie him with a long contract now.und till die.joseph mifsud.malta.
I have the utmost respect for SAF and everything he has ever done for United. He continues to get amazing results from what nearly everyone can see is a patchwork team - many excellent players but also some very average ones who start every game.
To see us as anywhere near Barcelona/RM is la-la-land. i cannot believe he really thinks that. Or that, player for player, our best 11 comes that close to matching the team we don't talk about here.
I suspect the truth will never come out. Of course the Glazers are the constraint on spending - either implicitly or explicitly.
Also, did we capitalise on our profile when we were at the top? That would have been the time to best attract really top players - not when we are demonstrably some way off that peak.
Whenever team performance falls flat in any particular game, the doom and gloom merchants are out begging the club to sign x, y and z but, to many true fans, we see that Sir Alex has delivered over the years. His long term planning has resulted in our currently have a well rounded squad as evidenced by its ability to continue to compete, despite a tremendous injury list. It is well known that Sir Alex plans team selection a long time in advance and, although it has given us supporters concern in the past (eg Schalke home last year, Arsenal FA Cup last year), invariably he gets it right. Even when he gets it wrong (Palace League Cup), he probably learns plenty about player's character such that he knows when to deploy 'reserves' safely in the future. The way that Sir Alex develops players has seen them bed into the squad and contribute whenever called upon to do so. There is no doubt that he is the greatest EPL manager ever and, when he decides to leave us, he will be sadly missed. I know that City fans are hoping that his retirement will lead to a spell in the doldrums for United but I suspect he will leave a healthy legacy, in player terms, for his successor.
yeah its in our history to buy young players & im much happier seeing sombody like a ronaldo, rooney or nani bought to develope their huge talent & watch them grow but they need to be talented. the difference was that pre-glazer we were buying young talent like ferdinand, rooney & ronaldo & also buying players in their mid twenties ie established players like van nistelrooy & stam & all this on top of constantly breaking the transfer record & blowing other teams out of the water in terms of how much we could pay in transfer fees & wages as we had no debt to pay
now we are buying garbage like bebe, obertan, diouf, tosic, ect to try & cut corners & save money & as these players are relativly unknown we pay very low wages so again saving money to pay more glazer debts!!!
United are out of the champions league for one reason & one reason only, the glazers debts prohibiting fergie from buying the best players like he did pre-glazer & we couldnt get the midfielder we desperatly needed & have resorted to playing a finished giggs who constantly gives the ball away & were just lucky scholes changed his mind & still hasnt lost his marvelous talent as without him i think the league would already be over
p.s
if bale or modric do leave tottenham with redknapp probably going i would bet my house on it that we dont sign either due to the fees & wages theyd command. any player of this quality that comes on the market of this quality wont join united as we simply wont pay the money & will make a publicity bid to make it look like we were going to buying ie like we did with benzema when ronaldo then sunk to sewage level by signing owen on a free whos been injured more than hes played which everybody knew he would be
Ferguson has not got any money.
That's it, no smoke no mirrors no dosh!
Amersham 66,
Last time I checked we were still demonstrably Premier League Champions.
I guess the main concern is that we fall into the "Wenger Trap" whereas we are constantly looking for the next batch and the next great team rather than building on what is in front of you.
I have loved our policy of growing our own, but it used to be coupled with some experienced signings rather than solely the next possible star...of course, Ashley Young would qualify as an experienced big money signing, but not really the knockout name some would call for.
Amersham 66,
Last time I checked we were still demonstrably Premier League Champions.
When Sir Alex says he's happy with his lot transfer-wise, people jump on the anti-Glazer bandwagon and say it isn't true but why would he say it if it wasn't? He's virtually unsackable whatever he says and he's old enough to put his feet up and follow his horses if that is what he wanted. Guys - please understand, he says what he says because he means it and he has continued to keep us competitive. When Ronaldo left, there were those who thought we may decline but did it happen? No and why? Because Sir Alex knows, bteer than anyone, what's needed at Old Trafford. For those pointing out 'mistakes' in purchases - Obertan and Tosic were bought and sold for the same sum, DIouf looks likely to leave with a loss (£2m-£3m). None of these were likely to make the step up to the first team squad but, as with all businesses, you have to be prepared to take a chance. As for Bebe, he is a work-in-progress, but he probably cost us £1m up-front, with add-ons dependent on success, which would push this to around £4m and, even if he fails to make the grade, he will have been worth a punt. Although he is a big,strong lad with good pace and a powereful shot, from what I've seen of him, he has much to learn, but - so what? There are plenty of City fans posting here but, with City having spent £450m+ in the last couple of years, without too much to show for it, it beggars belief that they should criticise Sir Alex. United fans should realise where our success comes from before they start slagging off the master.
Amersham 66,
Last time I checked we were still demonstrably Premier League Champions.
What he means by the long term view is, what you see is what you can expect for the next few years.
I believe we are very much in transition and it may take another two years for it to come to fruition. The current young squad could be as good as the kids of '94 by then. We are close to Barca by the fact that we are nurturing a young squad of players,just as they did and KEEPING them together,maybe bringing in a potential top class talent,like Barca did with Messi. We have slipped up by not replacing pieces in the jigsaw over the past few years but often expensive players just don't work out (Veron,Berba and the like) so what's the point of risking money. What we really need is another Cantona ( the guy who REALLY taught the kids how to play with confidence,not Ferguson) and he could materialize in the form of Ronaldo returning to Old Trafford!
SKINT !.
First bit of Transfer business we need to conclude - get Pogba signed up, this kid will be top draw.
as fred the red so clearly stated in the glazer era united are a selling club and the glazer plan has been for sir alex to raise the money for transfer dealings .
when the glazers took over we were promised 25m+ a season over and above transfer receipts. it never materialised.
alias and the other arch glazer apologist billy have argued long and hard that the 80m a season paid out to CITY BANKERS has not affected sir alex. I DONT BELIEVE IT.
sir alex has worked miracles with what has been available and the success we have had in the last 6 years is entirely due to him.
Can't agree with you mate, barca have given 31 youth team players starts over the last 3 years. On top of this they have bought absolute world class players, fabrigas, villa, Sanchez these players are so far above what we are buying. Bebe, obertan, tozic.
Our young players are bottle necked behind the older players like gigs.
Would gigs get a game at Barcelona ? No chance against Liverpool he gave the ball away about 24 times
Firstly, the debt is not 'enormous', and the interest payments are not 'massive'. The debt is just over £400M on a business valued at nearly £2B, and the interest payments amount to about one third of annual profits. There's plenty of money left if the owners and the manager want to spend it. The question is whether they do.
I don't know by what yardstick United are not 'far off' Barcelona. They creamed us just 6 months ago.