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Sir Alex Ferguson is adamant he will not buy for
the sake of it. The Manchester United boss has continually insisted
there is "no value" in the transfer market and is not tempted to
take a plunge in the last three weeks before the window
closes.
His summer purchases so far have been restricted to young
defender Chris Smalling and Mexico World Cup star Javier
Hernandez.
The latter man in particular has made a pretty decent impression
so far, although put alongside the spending of Manchester City, the
sums are paltry.
Yet that knowledge will not deflect Ferguson from his chosen
path.
Senior figures at United have always insisted the debt incurred
by the Glazer family in their running of the club is having no
effect on Ferguson's transfer budget and the money is there if he
wants it.
However, even though Germany's Mesut Ozil and Danish goalkeeper
Anders Lindegaard are said to remain on Ferguson's radar, ahead of
Sunday's Community Shield tussle with Chelsea at Wembley, it is
evident the cash he does have is not burning a hole in his
pocket.
"I don't see the value in adding to our squad," said
Ferguson.
"I am happy with what we already have and I don't see any reason
to add to that just because people want me to buy someone.
"Supporters want you to buy players. They like to see a big
signing every year. Sometimes the players like to see a big
signing.
"But we have to be sensible about it. We look at our own squad
and ask what do we need?
"I look at the players everyone says are available and they
don't excite me."
The striking department is a case in point. At times last
season, it appeared Wayne Rooney was operating on his own.
Alan Shearer certainly felt so, as he pointed out on numerous
occasions. Yet Ferguson views a group of five that is strong enough
to allow him to let Danny Welbeck and Mame Biram Diouf join
Sunderland and Blackburn respectively on loan.
"We are pleased with the young strikers we have," said
Ferguson.
"Welbeck and Diouf will go on loan, which leaves us with five;
Berbatov, Rooney and Owen along with Macheda and Hernandez. That is
sufficient."
That more sustained impact is required from Dimitar Berbatov and
Michael Owen needs to remain injury free is beyond question but
Federico Macheda has shown glimpses of huge talent, while Javier
Hernandez has scored three times in three matches since linking up
with his new team-mates at the end of their recent tour of North
America.
The other aspect Ferguson needs to take into account are the new
rules which require him to name eight "home-grown" players in his
25-man squad.
What exactly is classed as home-grown is slightly confusing, as
Ferguson has discovered.
For instance, Brazilian twins Rafael and Fabio, are not classed
as home-grown this season, but will be next. The same is also true
of Macheda, but he gets in this term due to his age.
John O'Shea qualifies as home-grown for the Premier League but
not UEFA.
"The rule is a good thing," said Ferguson. "It had to
happen.
"But you have to consider what you are doing and understand what
a home-grown player means because you cannot afford to make any
mistakes."
Ferguson must also decide whether to hand a spot to Owen
Hargreaves, even though the injury-plagued England midfielder is
back in the United States having suffered a setback in his recovery
from a major knee injury.
It seems unlikely Hargreaves will gain selection, although Rio
Ferdinand should be fine despite Ferguson confirming the defender
is still "a few weeks" away from a return following the knee injury
he sustained in a collision with Emile Heskey on the first full day
of World Cup training in South Africa.
"I don't know exactly what happened with Rio," said
Ferguson.
"From what I can gather it was an accident and just one of those
freak things that happened.
"He has never had that injury before. The others have all been
related to his lower back.
"They have been well publicised and we seem to be managing
them."