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13 Aug 2003
FERGUSON HAILS NEW UNITED BOYS

Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson proclaimed that his new signings Cristiano Ronaldo and Kleberson are "two fantastic players."

The United manager revealed that he had had his eye on the pair for a while: "I am delighted. In both cases it has been going on for not just a matter of weeks - it has been going for some considerable time," he said.

"I had the framework of negotiations with Sporting Lisbon about nine months ago but there was a change when young Ronaldo showed an eagerness to join us immediately. He may have stayed at Lisbon for another year.

"We had to have conversations with Sporting Lisbon when he said that. The club were fantastic in those negotiations and we tried to get him here as quickly as possible."

After paying £6million for Kleberson's services, Ferguson revealed just how highly he rates the Brazillian World Cup winner: "I think Kleberson won the World Cup, his positioning was vital. They (Brazil) were so fluid but they needed someone to stabilise them. Central midfield is so important in the World Cup finals," he said.

"Some players play a lifetime and never play in the World Cup finals. We have a player here who has played in the World Cup final."

"I think he can play wide right or the right-hand side of midfield. He can play right across the midfield, is mobile and quick."

And the Scotsman also showed his admiration for £12.24million Portuguese attacking midfielder Ronaldo, who starred in Sporting Lisbon's 3-1 victory over United last week: "There's enormous talent there and he wants to play, you saw that last week against us, he wanted the ball. He's not fazed by anything, he has enormous talent," said Ferguson.

"We had a tough night against them! I don't think our players knew anything about the boy but in the pre-match talk we said this was a very talented boy. They knew that at half-time."

"As with every young player, he's only 18 - we have to gauge that. It would be a big year for him to think he could go through the whole year in the first team. There will be times when you have to leave him out and rest him."

Ferguson revealed that his former assistant Carlos Queiroz, played a big part in bringing Ronaldo to Old Trafford before becoming Real Madrid coach: "When Carlos came he said we must sign this player from Portugal, about the same time we started the alliance with Sporting.

And Ferguson reckons that his new youngsters can bring European glory back to Old Trafford: "European football is very important to us. We have done well but we have been a detail short and we want to win. That's why signings like this encourage me."

"I think we have enough experience... with Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Quinton Fortune - it's not too young a team. I know there's some evidence that winning in Europe is about older teams but our team in '99 was a young team.

"I think players like Keane, Butt, Scholes and Giggs are important in terms of experience.

After the summer sales of key midfield men David Beckham and Juan Sebastian Veron, the addition of Ronaldo, Kleberson and Cameroon international Eric Djemba-Djemba has bolstered United's midfield as they defend their Premiership crown and launch an assault on the Champions League.

Sir Alex Ferguson CBE

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