Gibson comes of age to solve United’s succession problem

THERE are two schools of thought about why Alex Ferguson has so far failed to dip into the £80 million (€94m) banked by the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid last summer.

On the one hand, there are growing concerns about the Glazer family’s ability to finance the massive debts they incurred when they bought the club – now believed to stand close to £700m (€775m) – and the consequential impact on Ferguson’s transfer budget.

On the other, there is the more rose-tinted view that in a summer of spiralling asking prices, the manager simply refused to pay over the odds and, besides, was happy with the players at his disposal.