Sir Alex Excited By Options

Sir Alex feels he will have one of the strongest attacks in Europe this season following the news that Arsenal striker Robin van Persie is close to completing a move to Old Trafford.

The Reds announced on Wednesday evening that the club had agreed a fee with Arsenal for the Dutchman who is due in Manchester on Thursday for a medical.

Van Persie is expected to seal his transfer to Old Trafford in the next 24 hours and Sir Alex can't wait to welcome him into the squad.

"They're two fantastic players and it's great to have them both," said the boss when asked, at the bwin sponsor launch, for his thoughts on seeing Wayne Rooney and van Persie paired up front together.

"But what gives us even more strength is the different combinations I have now. If you go back to the '99 season, I had [Andy] Cole and [Dwight] Yorke and also Teddy [Sheringham] and Ole Gunnar [Solskjaer] - I had the four best strikers in Europe. Now I've got Wayne, Robin, Danny Welbeck, Chicharito, [Shinji] Kagawa - it's a fantastic collection of players and hopefully I can pick the right combinations!

"It's great to have a player of van Persie's quality coming into our squad. I'm really pleased."

The United manager also confirmed that the deal is close to being finalised and he hopes to have the 29-year-old available for the trip to Everton on Monday night.

"The fee has been agreed which we're delighted about. He's on his way up from London and will have a medical later this afternoon. We hope that goes according to plan," explained Sir Alex.

"His agent is in discussions with David [Gill] at the moment. Hopefully all these things will be tied up by the end of the day.

"Sometimes the medicals take a little bit longer and may carry on until tomorrow morning but I'm sure he'll be available for Monday's game."