Summer Targets Identified

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that work has already started on possible summer transfer targets.

In an exclusive interview with Inside United, the official club magazine, the Reds boss insisted he has a solid foundation in terms of his squad to ensure sustained success for the next five years or so as the younger players mature.

Although several clubs look likely to spend lavishly during the close season in a bid to compete for next year's title, the manager acknowledges that the champions will again be competitive in the transfer market after landing the likes of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa in 2012.

Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool will all surely be on the look-out for big-name arrivals, particularly with a bumper new television deal coming into effect. It means that the task of retaining the title will be a difficult one but it is already a challenge that is being relished from within Old Trafford.

"You have to look at the structure of the club at present, in terms of the number of first-team players we have at 23 or under," Sir Alex explained in his monthly column in Inside United.

"David De Gea, Rafael, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Alex Büttner, Nick Powell, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck. Shinji Kagawa and Chicharito are 24. Jonny Evans is 25 and Wayne Rooney is hitting his peak at 27.

"Older players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand may be coming towards the end of their careers, but these younger players are the foundation for the next five or six years, irrespective of the players breaking through, like Adnan Januzaj, the Belgian boy, who's really looking very good.

"Hopefully the players we bring into the club in the next year or so will be of the quality we need. We're competitive in the market - we're not Chelsea or Manchester City in terms of money but we're competitive.

"We've been doing a bit of work on that over the last three or four months, targeting who the players are that we feel could enhance us, make us better or help us maintain the level we're at."