Sir Alex Ferguson, "There is always the question of identification, the question of 'what do we need?'. We’ve introduced some young players in recent years and the age of the squad is very good at the moment. There's a great nucleus of youth at the club; Smith, Park, Fletcher, Ronaldo, Rooney, O’Shea – they are all young players.
"I would think we are talking about someone experienced to improve us. But finding that player is not easy."
He also spoke about the lack of goals last season, "What happened in the Cup final wasn’t an accident. It had been happening all season. There is a great responsibility on players to take their chances this season. The potential for goals is there, without question.
"I’m sure it was a one-off because you cannot discount Ruud van Nistelrooy’s goalscoring abilities. He had a terribly fragmented season where the continuity of games just wasn’t there for him because of injuries. Wayne Rooney produced a fantastic goal tally for one so young in his first season. We hope Louis Saha can remain fit as well. (!! – ed)
"What we don’t want to do is miss the chances at the rate we missed them last season. We’re very positive about this season. You’re constantly on a knife edge as a coach. You always think to yourself at the start of the season, ‘if we avoid injuries, we'll be OK. But then Quinton Fortune has to have a knee operation before the season has even started. Although he’ll only be out for 5-6 weeks, it is still frustrating. I just hope we get the breaks in that respect.
"There is a real need for us to be up and flying right from the first game of the season. Last season we couldn’t catch Chelsea after the first game. In seasons past, we’ve caught teams by Christmas and gone by them in March. But now it looks as if you’re possibly starting the Premier League saying ‘we can’t afford to lose a game’."