Ferguson eyes Brown as partner for Ferdinand

WES BROWN could be the biggest loser initially but the biggest winner in the long run from his buddy Rio Ferdinand's record £30 million move to Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson wants Ferdinand to spend next season under the tutelage of Laurent Blanc in what will be the veteran Frenchman's final campaign before retirement.

Ferguson feels Ferdinand could learn a lot from the experienced Blanc and speed his development.

This means Brown, who went on holiday with Ferdinand to Las Vegas this summer, will probably start the new season on the substitutes bench.

Brown, though, should not be too despondent if this happens because Ferguson sees him as Ferdinand's long-term partner at centre-half.

Ferguson hopes this pairing could become as enduring and as successful as Steve Bruce's legendary partnership with Gary Pallister.

Playing alongside Ferdinand could also boost Brown's long-term England prospects and Sven-Goran Eriksson could be tempted to use their partnership at the heart of his defence.

John O'Shea will have to be patient this season after breaking through into the first-team squad during the last campaign.

The Irishman probably felt his prospects had improved when Ronny Johnsen's contract with the club ended last season, but Ferdinand's signing has pushed him down the pecking order.

He is back to fourth or fifth if Gary Neville is included in the central defenders' pecking order at Old Trafford.

Overall, though, the competition for places among United's defenders has eased slightly.

Although Ferdinand has come in, in net terms United are still two defenders down because of the loss of Johnsen, Denis Irwin and Ronnie Wallwork.

Ferdinand will mark the beginning and end of Manchester United's summer spending, according to chief executive Peter Kenyon.

Kenyon claims Ferdinand, who on Monday completed his British record £30 million move from Leeds, will be Ferguson's only buy.

Even though three first-team players have left since last season, Kenyon feels Ferguson's squad is still big enough.

"We concentrated on what we thought was our single number one target and that was Rio," he said.

"There's a limit to the squad size you can have. "We've got a squad size which we're happy with. We've got Wes Brown and we've got John O'Shea who you would expect to feature more prominently.

"If you look at us, we've probably got the best midfield of any team probably across Europe.

"We brought in Diego Forlan last season, Ruud van Nistelrooy had a fantastic season and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keeps on doing what he does, so we're great in every department.

"This was all about bringing in a quality player in defence. We never sat down and said we needed to bring in several players."

Ferdinand's fee could eventually rise to £33.3 million depending on the Reds' form during his five-year contract.

However, United are certain he will shore up a defence that leaked 45 league goals last season.