Manchester United FC

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• Founded:1878
• Manager:Sir Alex Ferguson

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Gill happy for Fergie to spend

04 Mar 2010 - 10:53:18

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Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson still has plenty of transfer funds at his disposal, according to club chief executive David Gill.

Gill claims the vast majority of the £80million the Old Trafford club banked from the world record sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid last season remains available to Ferguson should he wish to strengthen his squad.

His comments come at a time when club owners, the Glazer family, are under renewed fire from supporters concerned at the level of debt their 2005 takeover placed on the Premier League champions.

"We're looking at players all the time," Gill told the Soccerex conference in Manchester. "The money from Ronaldo is sitting there in the bank account, we've been clear on that.

"But Alex has been very clear he isn't going out to chase and overpay for a player just because everyone else thinks we should. He's a Scot, he wants value for money.

"We've spent a lot of money on (Fulham's) Chris Smalling and that's the sort of player we want to bring in - a young player who we feel will develop as a player and hopefully give us service for many, many years to come.

"Alex is very comfortable with it. He wouldn't be shy in saying he wasn't comfortable and we need to buy a player.

"We're a successful team and the way it's moved on since Cristiano left after six very successful years with us demonstrated why he's comfortable with what he's got."