Monday 13 July 2009

Ferguson not fazed by Benzema snub

Sir Alex Ferguson has shut the door on any more incomings this summer and declared champions Manchester United closed for business.

The Scot made his admission after confirming he did enquire about signing Karim Benzema but lost faith as soon as big-spending Spanish football giants Real Madrid entered the running for the France forward's signature.

It means the Old Trafford boss will choose from Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen and youngsters Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck when United begin the defence of their Premier League title.

The signing of Owen gives Ferguson the impact goal-getter he craved since Carlos Tevez decided it was wise to turn his back on a five-year contract offer. And fellow new recruits Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan will be charged with the task of supplying the ammunition in a top-heavy midfield.

Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Sergio Aguero and Klaas Jan Huntelaar have been touted as close-season targets but Ferguson is adamant that he will not pay inflated prices just because he has £80m from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo burning a hole in his pocket.

"There are some amazing numbers being talked about, not all of them realistic," he said.

"It is very difficult to get value now. In a way we benefited through the sale of Cristiano, although that figure was non-negotiable.

"But I feel we have a good squad, which meant there was no need for knee-jerk reactions.

"We asked about Benzema and we had a value for him. Lyon have done well because they got 42million Euros but I think we took a sensible view."

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