Ferguson believes that the transfer market has ‘caught fire’ this summer with players’ valuations going through the roof.

The Scot highlighted that he is used to paying over the odds for players but he would not be held to ransom over certain prospective targets.

It means that United fans will have to make do with the arrivals of Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen, who has been handed the number seven shirt, and Gabriel Obertan as the Premier League champions get accustomed to life without Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

“It is the end of our business, so all these stories about who we are supposed to be getting - forget it,” he said.

“Everywhere in England and in Europe the players’ values have shot sky high. I don’t think any of the transfers that you see happening are realistic but for some reason it seems to have caught fire this summer.

“It is a very unusual summer and difficult to get value because of that.”

[Source: SkySport]

The shirt features a large V across the chest, reflecting the design of the shirts worn by United when the stadium first opened during the 1909/10 season.

Inside the black round-neck collar is a woven label in red, white and black, while engineered into the side seam is a small label that reads ‘The Theatre of Dreams Since 1910.’

Let’s have a look with their new home football kit:

For all their attacking, beautiful and intricate football last season it would seem as if Barca still don’t have the financial clout to match their arch rivals. You have to wonder how all these new forwards will fit into the Real side, with Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, Gonzalo Higuain and whoever else they buy all vying for places there are going to be some pretty high-profiled faces on the bench.

This is what Ribery’s agent, Alan Migliaccio, told RAC-1: “Ribery would prefer to play for Real Madrid than Barcelona,

“The player has talked with Zinedine Zidane and he wants to play for Los Blancos for him.

“But at this moment everything is blocked because the people at Bayern are on holiday until the end of the month.

“I can’t say anything else until we meet them in the next few weeks.”

Currently Real are second favourites to lift the title with the football betting odds, with Barca odds on favourites to retain it. It is a similar story in the early Champions League betting odds where Real are currently second placed behind Barcelona in the early markets. The bookies seem to think Barcelona will continue with their success but Real are still attracting the players. However, from where I’m sitting though they need to shore up their defence before they continue in the pursuit of the world’s best forwards if they’re to win any silverware next season.

It is pretty safe to say Real have a rather dubious approach to transfer dealings and didn’t win any friends in their quest to sign Cristiano Ronaldo but for the good of European football we need a powerful Madrid side. Barca ripped La Liga apart last season and in truth Real were never anywhere near the title, the 6-2 El Classico victory for the Catalans perfectly demonstrated the gulf between the two sides.

I know people will point out Real won the league the previous season but in all fairness they were blown out of the water by Barca last time around and for the neutral Spanish football fan a bit more competition is needed in that league. With Valencia in dire financial stakes they’re not going to compete for the title any time soon and Atletico Madrid are still quite a way behind both Barca and Real.

In terms of competing in the Champions League only Barca seemed to trouble the English sides and for the good of that competition other clubs in Europe need to try and match the Premier League. Inter Milan may well step up a gear next season after Jose Mourinho is given another transfer window to build his team but Real’s capture of Kaka should start the ball rolling for their own improvements.

In his previous tenure as Real president Perez brought in Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo and David Beckham so I’m hopeful we’ll see an equally talented side assembled this time around. Now they have Kaka they might ease up in their pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo, though Perez has made some confusing statements about Ronaldo over the last few weeks, at points saying he wants ‘friendship’ with Manchester United and at other times saying he wants to sign him. Unfortunately it looks a fairly safe football bet that we have another summer of ‘Will he? Won’t he? Do we care anymore?’ regarding a prospective move to Madrid for the United man.

Historically Real have played attacking, flowing football but that was lacking last season. They’ve got Kaka so if they can bring in maybe two or three other quality players like Franck Ribery, David Silva, David Villa, Zlatan Ibrahimovic etc they should provide a better spectacle next season. They’ve also apparently tabled a bid for Wigan’s Antonio Valencia, who should adapt to Spanish football fairly well and should be a good acquisition for Real.

After their historical and memorable campaign last season Barcelona will still be the bookies’ betting favourites to take the title next season but with Perez at the helm Real should make it a much closer contest next season. With the transfer window now open I expect Real will dominate the headlines throughout the summer, especially if they try and tempt the Premier League’s better players and next season it might actually be worth tuning in when Real are playing.

[0-1] Barry Goal
[0-2] Heskey Goal
[0-3] Rooney Bicycle Kick Goal
[0-4] Lampard Penalty Goal

Celebration: