Fergie will have to wheel and deal

Manchester United chief executive David Gill (pictured) has told Alex Ferguson he will have to sell before he can buy next summer.

United have already spent next year’s budget on the capture of Wayne Rooney from Everton and Gill says players will have to leave before any more new recruits are brought in.

He told the Sunday Express: “We intended to get Wayne Rooney next summer but we’ve bought him now. So that was next year’s budget gone.

“You have now got to assess where we are as a team at the end of the season - what we have achieved, where the weaknesses are and try to work it out.

“Currently, in terms of the first-team squad, we’ve got 25 players. The manager has to give his views on those players and decide where the squad needs strengthening or where it doesn’t need strengthening.

“Bodies will have to leave before we invest further. But bodies will have to leave anyway because of the numbers.

“If Sir Alex wanted to invest more we would have to lose someone. And all our players are high profile.”