Boss Outlines Squad Plans

Sir Alex Ferguson has reiterated his intention to bolster his title-winning squad with several new signings this summer.

The returning loan players give the boss some more options to assess but he recognises the loss of several elder statesmen is going to leave some gaps at Old Trafford. At United's annual awards dinner on Wednesday night, Sir Alex explained the current situation regarding his personnel.

I'm looking at possibly a couple, maybe three signings, which would boost our overall quality in the team," he told MUTV. "We've got some ideas in mind and, hopefully, we can get them put in place.

"Of course, the way we're looking at it is we have Ryan Giggs coming towards the end of his career, Gary Neville's already retired and Paul Scholes is coming to the end of his career. Edwin van der Sar's retiring and there are holes we want to plug up in terms of the safety and security of the team in the next few years.

"Of course, we've got some excellent young players - Chris Smalling has been absolutely magnificent this season, Jonny Evans has come back to great form, the two da Silvas keep progressing and Chicharito has had an incredible season.

"A lot of them have progressed this season, like Darron Gibson. That's the important thing. We've also got Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, Mame Diouf and Danny Drinkwater coming back, so it gives us quite a powerful squad."

Sir Alex laughed off criticism of his record-breaking title winners and paid tribute to his players ahead of the Champions League final with Barcelona.

"It's the worst we've had, worse than the team that got relegated in '74!" he joked. "You're right to dismiss that [criticism] because it's the name of the game with United. If we're not scoring 10 goals every game, I suppose, we have our critics because the expectation is high.

"Don't forget one thing - expectation is high from us too and, from the fans' point of view, they want to see the best. If you look at the two sides of Manchester United this season, yes you could criticise a lot of away performances for being disappointing but the home form has been fantastic. We've scored more goals than anyone else so it's hard to criticise that kind of form and our form in the European Cup is nothing short of sensational.

"We haven't lost a goal away from home and we've had solid performances at Old Trafford. In the two games against Chelsea, you've got to play well to beat Chelsea today because they are a very experienced and powerful team. So you've got to give credit to the players for these tremendous performances."