| Midfield is Sir Alex's priority
Sir Alex Ferguson admits his main transfer priority is still replacing Roy Keane in the United midfield.
The possible departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy has prompted rumour-mongers to cast their eye over potential reinforcements upfront. The Gaffer, however, is adamant that he only plans to renovate his side's engine room.
Sir Alex told the News of the World: "The main issue for me is the composition of the midfield. We are not looking outside of that.
"When you lose a player like Roy Keane, which was always going to happen as he was getting older, you have to find a replacement for him."
With a distinct shortage of ready-made alternatives in the game, let alone available for transfer, Sir Alex has endured long-term frustration in trying to replace his former captain.
He has been forced to experiment with various members of his squad in midfield, including the unlikely but effective pairing of John O'Shea and Ryan Giggs, and now has options if he fails to recruit any new blood.
"It is something I have been looking at for a long time," he conceded. "We have Paul Scholes back to his best form. We also have the quality and experience of Ryan Giggs so it can't be that bad.
"We have youthfulness in John O'Shea — who did a great job for us last year in that position — and Darren Fletcher, so we have some alternatives in there."
Ferguson insists, however, that United are working hard to bring in new faces.
"Fans want to see new signings and a new face which makes a difference to our play and bring more success," he admitted.
"We are trying to sign a couple of players who would add variety to our play. They are different types of players to the ones we have and that would only strengthen us.
"But, at the end of the day, we will not be stupid. I am quite adamant about that."
United had a concrete bid for Tottenham's Michael Carrick rejected in June, and Sir Alex is insistent that he will not be increasing his offer to match Spurs' valuation of the player.
He said: "World Cup year is always difficult but we tried to do some fundamental business before the tournament, making a bid for Carrick.
"Tottenham turned down that offer and are looking at something approaching double what we offered. They want to play the long game. We have put a value on him and we will not go above that." "The Best part of Having a Cancer is you can smoke as much as you want" - A Cancer Paitent
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