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FERGUSON CONCERNED BY STRIKER SHORTAGE
Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he is "concerned" by the shortage of strikers at his disposal for the new season.
With the newly-committed Ronaldo still recovering from an operation on his ankle and Wayne Rooney laid low by a mystery virus, Ferguson's options for the season-opening match against Newcastle in two weeks' time are likely to be limited to pairing Ryan Giggs with Carlos Tevez.
"It is a concern," Ferguson acknowledged. "Wayne will probably miss the start of the season and Louis Saha's future is undecided at the moment. It's left us a little short up front."
Tevez and Giggs started Wednesday night's pre-season friendly with Juventus but the stalemate that then ensued was hardly reassuring. Nonetheless, Ferguson remains defiant that, even without Rooney and Ronaldo, not to mention the suspended Nani and Olympics-bound Anderson, his team can cope.
"I'm sure we'll find the goals at the start of the season though - our play is good enough," he insisted.
Despite the dearth of striking options, Ferguson announced earlier in the week that he might not buy again this summer having previously said he wanted to make one more signing.
While it remains to be seen if United make another attempt to bring Dimi Berbatov to Old Trafford from Tottenham Hotspur, the timing of Ferguson's apparent u-turn on the eve of Ronaldo's declaration that he would stay does raise questions about the size of the kitty available to the Manchester United boss this summer.
One explanation is that, having spent in excess of £50m last year and set aside a further £25m to finance the transfer of Tevez on a permanent basis, Ferguson has been told he can only make another high-profile signing if he raises the funds himself.
