United eye Manucho

SOCCER:Alex Ferguson is set to limit his January recruitment campaign to one African striker, Manucho Goncalves, after ruling out another move for former Celtic star Henrik Larsson.

The veteran Swede was a spectacular success after joining Manchester United on a short-term loan 12 months ago, scoring three goals in 13 appearances at a time when Ferguson was struggling for numbers.

With Tottenham's Dimitar Berbatov not for sale and doubts still surrounding the long-term fitness of Louis Saha, speculation about a renewed bid for Larsson had started to surface.

But Ferguson, who indicated he would resist the temptation to bring in any new faces during a recent interview with the official United magazine, will not be making a move for Larsson.

"Henrik promised his family back then he would go home," said Ferguson. "He honoured it, and we honoured it. It would be an interesting one, obviously - but I don't think so.

"At this time of year, it is always difficult to get the players you would like to get. You look at the criteria of playing in European football. That is not easy.

"It eliminates a lot of players, so I am still of the same opinion as I was before."

Ferguson has effectively ruled out any squad strengthening when the transfer window opens next month - other than to try to complete a deal for Angolan striker Goncalves, who impressed during a recent trial period at Old Trafford.

Goncalves (24) was spotted by Ferguson's assistant Carlos Queiroz and would almost certainly be loaned to a club in Portugal to overcome immediate administration issues. "We hope he does well in the African Nations Cup because, as it is at the moment, he has to play enough games to qualify for a work permit," added the United manager.

"We have had him in for three weeks, and he has done exceptionally well. He has done very well training with the first team and playing in a couple of practice matches. There is good potential there. He has good assets. He is 6ft 2in; he is quick, aggressive and very agile - so there is something to work on.

"If we can get the work permit we can map out a future for him, but I wouldn't see him as a first-team player this season."

United face in-form Everton in the Premier League tomorrow. Ferguson's team have already beaten the visitors at Goodison Park this season.

But Everton are currently on a 13-match unbeaten run, 11 of which have ended in victory. With former United players Phil Neville and Tim Howard in the visitors' line-up, there is bound to an an extra edge to the fixture.

"They will be a handful for us. We will need our best form," said Ferguson who expects to have Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown and Carlos Tevez available even though the trio picked up knocks in the win at Liverpool.