Sir Alex Ferguson has condemned the
"stupid" prices being quoted in this summer's transfer market after
admitting that Manchester United, once the most
powerful spenders in English football, have been priced out of
signing the top players because of the way selling clubs have
reacted to the immense financial power of Manchester City and Real Madrid.
While Madrid have spent £180m since the galáctico-obsessed
Florentino Pérez's reinstatement as president, and City have become
the biggest spenders in the Premier League, United have spent only
a quarter of the £80m they received for Cristiano Ronaldo and
Ferguson said he does not expect any more arrivals because of the
exorbitant fees being demanded.
Michael Owen, the manager conceded,
had been signed as a back-up option after United refused to match
Madrid in the pursuit for his principal target, the France
international striker Karim Benzema, who eventually moved to the
Bernabéu from Lyon for around £35m. His only remaining target is
Douglas Costa, the Brazilian Under-20 international, but Ferguson
is frustrated in the extreme that Gremio want £21m for a teenager
who has only just broken into their team and, unless a compromise
can be reached, United will withdraw again.
"I said a year ago, when they [the Abu Dhabi United Group] took
over at City, that this was possible," Ferguson said. "Some of the
values across the world now are amazing; the numbers that get
tossed about. The values of players have shot sky high. I don't
think any of the [big] transfers this summer are realistic but for
some reason it has caught fire this summer. It's an unusual summer
and it's very difficult to get value because of that."
United have spent around £20m so far, buying Antonio Valencia
from Wigan Athletic for around £17m and Gabriel Obertan from
Bordeaux for £3m, with Owen arriving on a free transfer. The club
have been erroneously linked with a variety of expensive targets
and Ferguson anticipates many supporters being disappointed not to
have replaced Ronaldo with a more highly sought after
replacement.
"I can only placate the fans in one way and that's by not being
stupid," he responded. "We have that wonderful sum of money from
Real Madrid but there's no way we are going to throw it away by
putting an extra zero on the end of transfer fees when I didn't
think it was value.
"We went in for Benzema but, as far as we were concerned, the
price tag was beyond his value. If other clubs want to go to that
level, that's entirely their business. We had a value that we
thought was fair and we didn't want to go above that position.
Maybe Lyon thought we under-valued him and that's fine, it's their
decision. They got €42m for him and they will be happy with that
because they have done well. All this tells you about us is that we
are sensible.
"We have always had to pay a bit extra at this club but this
summer we were not prepared to do that. We have a very good squad
and some good young players. So there was no need to have a
knee-jerk reaction after losing him [Ronaldo]. We did very well to
keep him for six years. It was his moment to leave and we allowed
him to do that. But we should not panic because of one player
leaving.
"What I have done is bring in youth in Antonio and Gabriel and
an old codger in Michael to balance things up because experience is
vital and I know that he will score a lot of goals for us. He will
give us experience in the penalty box. That is what he has been
great at for years and years."
Yet Owen, it has become clear, was not Ferguson's first target
when it became apparent to him that Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez would
be leaving Old Trafford.
"Michael knows that," Ferguson explained. "We looked at the
situation and mulled it over for quite a few months. We knew that
his contract was coming to an end but I still had an intention to
bring in another player [Benzema]. What confused us was waiting for
a decision from Carlos Tevez. That confused us as we were not
getting any answers, which put us in quite a quandary in terms of
what we should do. We waited long enough. We tried to get Benzema
but as soon as that fell through we went for Michael. I've
explained this to Michael – that, at 21, Benzema was a possibility.
But as soon as that looked to be floundering I contacted
Michael.
"We had the four strikers anyway - [Dimitar] Berbatov, [Wayne]
Rooney, [Federico] Macheda and [Danny] Welbeck. I know two of them
are young but, listen, youngsters with ability will always get a
chance here.
"With Antonio, we had been negotiating with Wigan for some
months and that was straightforward. With Gabriel, we have been
watching him since he was 16, when he was probably the most sought
after youngster in Europe. His form dipped a little last season,
possibly because he had an injury. But that form has returned. He
was fantastic in the recent Under-21s game against England and that
reignited our interest. He is young and that is what we like. We
want a group of young players who can continue our success."
Ferguson initially said that United's transfer business was now
"concluded", although that should maybe be taken lightly given that
he stated at the end of last season there would be no significant
arrivals or departures whatsoever. It was also put to Ferguson that
he had previously stated he would not sell Madrid, or "that mob" as
he referred to them, a "virus" and, smiling, he accepted that he
had deliberately misled the media.
"I had a good relationship with the boy. He explained to me what
he felt and it was exactly as [former assistant manager] Carlos
[Queiroz] and I had thought two or three years ago. We never
thought we were going to keep him for a long time. To have him for
six years, we're very proud of that, very pleased. He's taken this
opportunity to have another challenge and I respect him because he
was a fantastic player for us. He was a good lad, he caused no
problems and we wish him well."
Ferguson was reminded he had told the same group of journalists
earlier this year that Ronaldo would stay at the club for another
five seasons. "I'm very sympathetic," he said, laughing. "I nearly
cried when he came to see me."
Later Ferguson acknowledged that, if there was a change in the
market, specifically Gremio drastically reducing their valuation of
Costa, United would be willing to go back into the transfer market.
"We have two months before the deadline so it could change.
Anything is possible. You never know."
For now, however, United are watching Madrid's transfer activity
with a sense of awe. "They did this thing a few years ago with
[Zinedine] Zidane and [Luís] Figo etc," Ferguson said. "It's in
their nature to do these things. It's the way they operate. They
are not nearly as afraid of debt as everyone else in the world. You
also have to applaud them for the system they use in controlling
that debt, whether it's a bank or whatever. But it's different from
us and we're happy the way we operate. No matter what players we
have got in, we are still going to be strong next season."
The £80m fee for Ronaldo was "non-negotiable, take it or leave
it" but Ferguson still has misgivings about whether Madrid, a team
he described as "too slow" to win the Champions League last season,
will be more credible challengers now they have added Ronaldo, Kaka
and Benzema to their ranks. "No," he said firmly. "Barcelona are
the team to aim for."