London - Sir Alex Ferguson has planned his exit strategy from Manchester United and will quit in two years time after building his last great team around Wayne Rooney and last week’s £24million capture from Arsenal, Robin van Persie.
And the legendary Old Trafford manager, who begins his 28th season in charge of United at Everton tomorrow night, claims the Glazer family will back him again if he makes a formal bid for England left-back Leighton Baines before the end of the transfer window on August 31.
Ferguson, 70, took personal control of the Van Persie signing and called Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger directly to ensure his final chapter at Old Trafford is successful, having lost the title to Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City on the final day of the season in May.
And he persuaded the Glazers, against the advice of other senior figures at the club, to rubberstamp a £64m investment in transfer fee and wages for Van Persie, even though the 29-year-old Dutchman will have a limited re-sale value.
A source said: “Alex will only be manager for a couple more years so it was time the owners gave him what he wanted. That’s Van Persie.”
Ferguson might even enter the market again to land Baines, who is valued at £17m by his club Everton.
“There is only one position in particular we are looking at,” the manager said. “We’ve splashed out quite a bit of money this summer but I’m sure if I went to the Glazers, they’d say “yes”.
Ferguson will decide on the evidence of Van Persie’s first two training sessions before deciding whether his new signing will start in tomorrow night’s Barclays Premier League visit to Goodison Park. Ferguson was at Craven Cottage yesterday to run the rule over Fulham, next weekend’s opponents.
United have received two solid inquiries from Italian clubs for Dimitar Berbatov.
Darren Fletcher, 28, who is battling ulcerative colitis, continued his comeback yesterday with a 90-minute run-out in United’s 1-0 win at Stoke in the Barclays Under-21 Premier League. - Daily Mail