Sir Alex Ferguson handed Michael Owen the Manchester
United number seven shirt and then declared they are closed for
transfers.
It was anticipated Ferguson would make further signings in
addition to Owen, Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan, who joined
last week from Bordeaux.
But, faced with a market over-inflated by Real Madrid and
Manchester City, Ferguson has decided his current squad is good
enough to challenge for an unprecedented fourth consecutive league
title, even though Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez have
left.
He said: "It is the end of our business, so all these stories
about who were are supposed to be getting - forget it."
It means Owen will take over Ronaldo's shirt and his place in an
attacking line-up containing Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov,
plus youngsters Daniel Welbeck and Federico Macheda, who will both
be given a chance to prove they are worthy of the accolades that
have been bestowed on them.
"They are both young players - but young players with ability
always get a chance here."
Ferguson confirmed he made a bid for Karim Benzema, only to be
rebuffed by the Lyon man, who instead became part of Real Madrid's
extraordinary spending spree.
With a world record £80million burning a hole in his pocket
following the sale of Ronaldo, United had the funds to compete.
But Ferguson refuses to be drawn into a bidding war for any
player beyond the level he thinks is acceptable.
"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."