Sir Alex Ferguson will not be allowed to instigate another big-money transfer until 2006 in the wake of Wayne Rooney's arrival from Everton. As Rooney prepared to make his Manchester United debut against Fenerbahce tonight, the men in power at Old Trafford admitted the England striker's £27m signing had wiped out their transfer budget for next year.
Sir Roy Gardner, United's plc chairman, said the situation would not change unless players were sold to generate transfer funds, but what Ferguson has seen of Rooney in training has only strengthened his belief it was a gamble worth taking. "You see players do things in training and it takes your eye," said Ferguson. "You know you're looking at something very special."
Ferguson hopes Rooney's introduction tonight, probably as a substitute, will invigorate United's season and feels he now has a more exciting quartet of strikers than in 1999, when they won the Treble.
"I'm absolutely convinced of that, plus we could play Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs up there. We now have so many options it's just a question of using them the right way and hoping the different combinations work."
Had he wished to go further, Ferguson might easily have argued that Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Louis Saha and Alan Smith not only compared favourably with Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but against every strike force in Europe, with the possible exception of Real Madrid's.
In Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo he also has Europe's two most exciting teenagers. Ferguson has privately conceded he needs to strengthen other areas of his team, notably the goalkeeping position, but he was able to brush aside those deficiencies as he spoke of his unwavering belief that Rooney will justify every penny of his fee.
"At his age, I don't see where coaching comes into it. He's blessed with natural instincts for the game and natural ability to play anywhere on the field. He's quick, skilful, aggressive, strong, good in the air, he's got vision and he can play it with both feet. There's not an 18-year-old anywhere else with that potential. The great thing will be developing that potential so in three or four years we will hopefully see the finished article, at which point we can say this boy has been a great investment."
Rooney had just turned 11 when Fenerbahce visited Old Trafford in 1996 and became the first club to beat United at home in European competition. Ferguson grimaced as he relived, kick for kick, Elvir Bolic's decisive goal that October night, but his relaxed mood indicated it might take an even bigger shock for the Turkish side to pull off a similar result tonight.
Although Cristoph Daum's team began by beating Sparta Prague 1-0 in Istanbul, it broke a run of seven defeats in the Champions League.
They have failed to win any of their foreign excursions since that Old Trafford success and, even though Pierre van Hooijdonk has a prolific record, they have managed only seven goals in 13 games in the competition.
Rooney has not had a reserve game during his three- month lay-off to recover from a broken foot. "I'm just mulling over whether to start him or put him on the bench," Ferguson said. "Maybe starting with him on the bench is the fairest thing for him."
Manchester United (probable, 4-4-2): Carroll; Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze; Ronaldo, Keane, O'Shea, Giggs; Van Nistelrooy, Smith.
Fenerbahce (probable, 4-2-3-1): Rustu; Fatih, Deniz, Fabio, Umit; Marco, Serkan; Serhat, Alex, Tuncay; Van Hooijdonk.
Referee: F Debleeckere (Belgium).
United defend agents' fees, page 16 Kevin McCarra, page 30
