Manchester United FC

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• Manager:Sir Alex Ferguson

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Gill promises summer funds

01 Feb 2010 - 08:58:49

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Manchester United chief executive David Gill claims Sir Alex Ferguson could be handed as much as £100million to spend on new players in the summer.

It had been thought that the club's massive debts would leave Ferguson with no money to spend but Gill insists that will not be the case.

United sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid last summer for a world record £80million but little of that cash was spent on team strengthening.

Ferguson has agreed a deal to bring Fulham defender Chris Smalling to Old Trafford at the end of the season and that will not be the only new arrival, according to Gill.

He said: "The owners understand that they will only get value back by ensuring the team continues to be successful and continues to attract exciting players and produces results off the pitch as well.

"They are in it for the long term. I do not have a clue about how many players we would buy in the summer.

"We do our planning throughout the year but the money will be there and it might be more than £55million.

"We have well over £100million in the bank, so we will assess the squad over the next few months and go into the market as appropriate.

"We would hope Wayne would stay with us until he has finished playing. He has a contract to 2012 and that will be addressed during the close season because we would want to put him on a new long-term contract.

"We have not got round to those discussions yet because Wayne is focusing on the football and the World Cup. But he is 24 and has his best years ahead of him. For obvious reasons, very few UK-based players want to leave Manchester United."