Insomnia
11-08-2008, 05:25 PM
SIR Alex Ferguson last night refused to rule out an amazing £20m swoop for Barcelona superstar Thierry Henry.
Fergie has turned to the Arsenal legend with Spurs continuing to play hardball by demanding £30m for their Bulgarian ace Dimitar Berbatov.
And, asked directly last night whether he was ready to swoop for the Frenchman, the Manchester United boss said: “I can’t answer it because I’ve not got a direct answer.
“We’re looking at options elsewhere.
“It’s possible we’ll sign someone this week. We have one or two options we’re looking at.
“I know we’re having a problem scoring goals at the moment, but if you’re making the number of chances we are at the moment, we shouldn’t worry about it.
“Players will come back and we will eventually add to the squad.”
A move by 31-year-old Henry to Old Trafford would be a major coup for Sir Alex, with the striker thought not to be a fan of either the manager or the club.
The need to boost his attack was illustrated as United – missing virus victim Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, who has an ankle injury – failed to turn dominance over Pompey in the Community Shield into goals.
United won 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out and Fergie was full of praise for Carlos Tevez, who provided most of United’s attack threat.
He added: “I expect big things from him. He’s got a lot of heart to play the game, is never intimidated, fights for every ball that comes near him. He’s a real handful.
“It was a superb performance. Just a pity he never got a goal that he deserved.”
Fergie singled out centre-back Rio Ferdinand, who was not skipper yesterday following the return of Gary Neville, who was back after a broken ankle.
“Rio is third in line to be skipper simply down to age, behind Gary and Ryan Giggs,” he said.
“Ferdinand gave an exemplary display, intercepting every ball that came towards him, broke out of central defence so many times with comfort.
“It was a magnificent performance. He’s an absolutely magnificent player and in that kind of form he’s the best centre back in the world by far.
“He’s 30 now, he’s got experience and his potential is being fulfilled.”
Fergie has turned to the Arsenal legend with Spurs continuing to play hardball by demanding £30m for their Bulgarian ace Dimitar Berbatov.
And, asked directly last night whether he was ready to swoop for the Frenchman, the Manchester United boss said: “I can’t answer it because I’ve not got a direct answer.
“We’re looking at options elsewhere.
“It’s possible we’ll sign someone this week. We have one or two options we’re looking at.
“I know we’re having a problem scoring goals at the moment, but if you’re making the number of chances we are at the moment, we shouldn’t worry about it.
“Players will come back and we will eventually add to the squad.”
A move by 31-year-old Henry to Old Trafford would be a major coup for Sir Alex, with the striker thought not to be a fan of either the manager or the club.
The need to boost his attack was illustrated as United – missing virus victim Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, who has an ankle injury – failed to turn dominance over Pompey in the Community Shield into goals.
United won 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out and Fergie was full of praise for Carlos Tevez, who provided most of United’s attack threat.
He added: “I expect big things from him. He’s got a lot of heart to play the game, is never intimidated, fights for every ball that comes near him. He’s a real handful.
“It was a superb performance. Just a pity he never got a goal that he deserved.”
Fergie singled out centre-back Rio Ferdinand, who was not skipper yesterday following the return of Gary Neville, who was back after a broken ankle.
“Rio is third in line to be skipper simply down to age, behind Gary and Ryan Giggs,” he said.
“Ferdinand gave an exemplary display, intercepting every ball that came towards him, broke out of central defence so many times with comfort.
“It was a magnificent performance. He’s an absolutely magnificent player and in that kind of form he’s the best centre back in the world by far.
“He’s 30 now, he’s got experience and his potential is being fulfilled.”