Fergie has £95m to spend

DAVID GILL has told Manchester United's protesting fans: Stop moaning, we've got £95million to spend.

Many of the Old Trafford faithful have become disillusioned with the debt-laden ownership of the unpopular Glazer family.

And the American family put another nail in the coffin of the takeover bid by the Red Knights consortium last night by insisting there are no plans to sell up.

But chief executive Gill insisted there is nothing to be gloomy about and claims boss Alex Ferguson will have as much of that warchest as he wants for new signings this summer.

Fergie has hinted there may only be one big-name signing with Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez already signed on for around £18m.

But with Karim Benzema and David Silva also believed to be on their radar, Gill says the extra money will be made available.

Gill said: "People say Alex is saying money is there because he has to. Anyone who knows Alex Ferguson knows he wouldn't say that if he didn't mean what he said.

"The money is definitely there. The financial results will show the figures are about £95m cash.

"We are not in a situation whereby Alex is restricted in what he wants to do with the club.

"We can invest in the players, the training ground and the stadium."

Fan protests became part and parcel of United home games last season with the Green and Gold campaign particularly prominent.

Yet Gill insisted: "The fans protesting are not going to change their opinion even if we win three Champions League titles in a row.

"We couldn't have been much more successful in the last three years.

"But they are simply never going to be happy."

United's hopes of landing Karim Benzema, however, are set to be dashed by Real Madrid for a second successive year.

Ferguson was keen to sign the French forward 12 months ago before he moved to the Bernabeu for around £30million.

And Real's sporting director Jorge Valdano has now said Benzema will be like 'a new signing' next season.

The former Lyon man hardly featured last term, sparking stories he could be on the move again.

But Valdano said: "We do not need more forwards - we scored 102 goals this season and Benzema didn't play much. Next season Karim is like a new signing."

TheSun

 

Player review: Fabio

Injuries hampered Fabio's maiden campaign as a United player, and also disrupted long portions of his 2009/10 season. Nevertheless, a new contract illustrates his status as a bright hope for the future...

Story of the season: Although Fabio's season began in a perfect fashion, completing 90 minutes as a much-changed back four kept a valuable clean sheet against Birmingham City, the Brazilian's second term at United was another stop-start affair, disrupted by a string of minor knocks and strains. Aside from making his Premier League bow against Alex McLeish's Brum, Fabio made four further appearances as second half substitutes against Fulham (home and away), Wigan and Hull, and impressed in his Champions League debut in Moscow. The explosive full-back enjoyed mixed fortunes in cup ties against Leeds, Barnsley and Wolves, receiving a straight red card in the latter, but his campaign ended on a high when he extended his United contract until at least June 2014, prolonging what he sees as: "every young player's dream."

Finest moment: A string of solid displays yielded few glaring highlights, but Fabio saw the funny side of being booked for a foul by his twin brother during the Reds' win at Barnsley. Referee Chris Foy later transferred the booking to Rafael, after United appealed.

What's in store? Plenty. Providing he can stay fit, Fabio has shown himself to be a more than able deputy for Patrice Evra, one of the game's leading left-backs.

Man United head race for free agent Joe Cole

Manchester United have emerged as the new favourites to sign Joe Cole.

Sir Alex Ferguson is understood to have put the Reds into pole position to sign Cole, with United one of three clubs offering the Chelsea play-maker a contract.

Cole will be a free agent when his current Stamford Bridge deal ends on July 1.

But although he has been unable to agree terms with Chelsea, he has been boosted by United’s offer, along with bids from Spurs and Italian giants Juventus

Cole, expected to be named in Fabio Capello’s final 23-man England squad for the World Cup on Tuesday, moved to Chelsea from West Ham in 2003.

At Stamford Bridge he has won three titles, two League Cups, and three FA Cups, and went within a whisker of winning the Champions League two years ago.

But the England midfielder’s bargaining position was weakened by a long injury lay-off and a loss of form last season, despite a stunning goal against United (right).

Chelsea are unwilling to put Cole into the same pay bracket as Frank Lampard and John Terry, leaving him to consider his future.

Spurs had been favourites to land him with boss Harry Redknapp, who worked with Cole at West Ham, able to offer Champions League football.

But Redknapp, who has been monitoring Cole’s situation over the last 18 months, privately fears the player has already opted to move to Old Trafford.

Manchester City had also shown interest but have now switched their attentions to Aston Villa star James Milner.

It leave United as favourites to prise away a player Fergie has admired ever since Cole’s time in the youth ranks at West Ham.

A year ago a Cole exit from Stamford Bridge would have seemed highly unlikely but yesterday Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti gave a hint why he sees the England man as expendable.

The Italian, who led Blues to their first-ever domestic Double last season, seems to believe he has a surplus of players who can do Cole’s job.

“The strength of a team is to have players with fantastic skills and players who can play in different positions on the pitch,” said Ancelotti.

“I have a lot of those – Ivanovic, Malouda, Lampard, Ballack, and Essien. Then there is Anelka, who can play up front or can play wide, Kalou is the same. This is a very important thing because you can change the shape.

“We changed the shape three times this season, without problem. We played the Christmas tree formation at the beginning and we had a lot of advantages. But after 15 games our opponents were able to cover the space between the lines in our team so we changed.

“We used two strikers and one offensive midfielder. Then, after the first half against Fulham at Christmas when we were losing, we changed to use two wingers to open the pitch and use all the space to attack. It is important to surprise your opponents.”

Cole and his Chelsea team-mates Lampard, Terry and Ashley Cole will head off to South Africa in peak condition according to Ancelotti.

Ancelotti (left) believes the tough Premier League programme has left his men battle-hardened, dismissing suggestions that they will be too tired to give their best.

He said: “The tempo of the matches here in England is higher but in Italy there is more pressure on each game so there is more stress. This takes more energy. In England there is less stress than in Italy, so physically you can do better.

“I can speak about my players. Frank Lampard, John Terry, Joe Cole and Ashley Cole are fit and physically they will do a fantastic World Cup.”