Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted Manchester United may well have to dig deep to replace the players who are coming to the end of their careers at Old Trafford (United 1/6 – 90 minutes v Rangers).

United have never been shy to spend big and land quality players, with £29m spent on the acquisition of Rio Ferdinand from Leeds back in 2002, but they have also brought a number of quality players up through the ranks over the past 15 years.

The likes of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers, were all nurtured by Ferguson, who was blessed with an incredible pool of home-grown talent developing at pretty much the same time.

Gary Neville, Giggs and Scholes are still playing their trade at the Theatre of Dreams in the mid-30s, but Ferguson is aware that they will not go on forever, and it may be that transfer fees will have to be paid to replace the legends of United’s golden era.

“There may be a time in the next couple of years where we have to stretch ourselves, particularly when Ryan, Paul and Gary retire,” he said. “Then, it is a possibility we would need to get really top players in to galvanise the younger ones coming through.

“But at the moment we have the experience. We have players who have been through the whole gamut of emotions at this club and know how to deal with it.”

Whether or not funds will be available to buy the best players in the world is open to question as doubts surround the long-term involvement of the Glazer family amid rumours of huge debts at the club.

But the 68-year-old tactician was quick to point out that he had money to spend in the transfer window but preferred, by and large, to keep his power dry and trust the current crop of players at his disposal.

“We have no financial restrictions,” he added. “If I hadn’t been confident maybe we would have done something. But there was only one player I would have brought here and that move was sealed off quite early by the club he went to.”

United begin their Champions League campaign with the visit of Rangers on Tuesday evening and are strong favourites to take all three points (Rangers 18/1 – 90 minutes v Man United).

Star striker Wayne Rooney looks set to play some part in the match after missing United’s weekend trip to Goodison Park as the manager opted to protect him from the spotlight due to his current off-field problems.

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