"We have considered Michael Ballack quite a lot in the last few months because we knew his contract was up and so we spoke to his people," the United manager revealed.
"But in essence - and he's a terrific player, a fabulous player - he plays mainly in the area where we play Wayne Rooney. You cannot include Roy Keane in the equation at all simply because the position Michael Ballack plays in is nowhere near where Roy played. The priority has always been to replace Roy Keane - we've been talking about that for two or three years. The difficulty is getting one."