We were interested in Vieira: Ferguson

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has admitted he expressed an interest in signing Patrick Vieira.

The former Arsenal midfielder has now moved on to Inter Milan from Juventus, following their relegation from Serie A as punishment for their involvement in a match-fixing scandal.

Ferguson said: “The Italian situation was interesting because everyone wanted to find out what would happen. Once they were relegated, Juventus were the club everyone wanted to target.

“Milan were not affected by the ruling and their players were not leaving. Patrick Vieira was someone we considered but I understand he has accepted a really good deal from Inter Milan, so that is the end of it.”

In the meantime United have secured the services of midfielder Michael Carrick from Tottenham – he was unveiled today -for a fee that could reach £18.6m (€27.2m) and Ferguson made it clear he hopes to further strengthen his squad in that area.

“The midfield area was something that we maybe had to bolster,” said Ferguson. “We kept saying about replacing Roy Keane and that kind of thing, you can’t replace Roy Keane, we’ve been trying for five years.”

Ferguson is looking for Carrick to bring his passing game to the United midfield.

“Michael’s an excellent footballer and a very, very good passer of the ball,” Ferguson told a press conference screened by Sky Sports News.

“The good thing is he’s been playing English football. He went into a West Ham team very young and most players who come through West Ham get a good education.”

Ferguson revealed he could sign another player before the start of the Barclays Premiership season.

He added: “We may bring in another one anyway.”