ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:ALEX FERGUSON yesterday launched a forthright defence of the policies of the Manchester United owners, the Glazer family, and insisted the club's spiralling debt had no bearing on his refusal to enter the transfer market during the January window.

The United manager was adamant he had money to spend if he so wished and said the club’s plans to raise €667 million via a bond issue to help tackle their €777 million debt were a positive development that would strengthen the financial position.

“The bond issue is a good thing for the club; I think anything that helps with repayment of debt is a good thing,” he said. “There is debt there but it has never interrupted my plans for the team at any stage. I don’t have any concerns about the financial situation. I have absolutely no issue at all with the club’s finances and I am really confident about that.”

He added that his day-to-day running of the club had not been impaired by Old Trafford’s burden of debt, which has increased from €555 million in 2005, the year the Glazer family took control from the old plc. In the year up to June 2008 United paid €77 million in interest alone.

Despite widespread scepticism, Ferguson maintained the first instalment of the €90 million United will receive for the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid last summer is still available to him.

“No, believe me, there is no impact,” he said. “I have all the money I need; the money is available. If I wanted to buy someone, I could get the money. The concerns are down to the fact that I have not moved in the transfer market but that is nothing to do with the Glazers, it is simply because I am not going to pay €56 million for a striker who is not worth it.”

In the past, Ferguson has joked that he was unconcerned by the way the Glazers have loaded United with debt because he would not be around to deal with the consequences. He has always backed the family whom he has found easier to deal with than the plc board and who, unlike Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and the Abu Dhabi United Group who run Manchester City, have not interfered in the transfer market.

He added he has long been suspicious of the January window. “I don’t see any diamonds there,” he said. “We struck lucky with Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra but it took them time to adjust. But you can’t guarantee it and you are limited when you are looking for players to play in Europe (because they are cup-tied). I don’t see a player who could make a difference in terms of value and ability.”

However, Ferguson did acknowledge that if anything happened to Wayne Rooney between now and the end of the season, it would put an enormous strain on United’s striking resources.

In this case, he admitted, the champions would feel Ronaldo’s loss sharply. “That is a possibility,” he said. “It is true we don’t have great options if Rooney were to get injured, in the sense that we do not have top quality like Ronaldo, who could play anywhere, of course.

“We have brought in the boy Mame Diouf in (from the Norwegian club Molde) and we will be looking to involve him at Birmingham, and I think it is a good time to do it. He’s quick and he’s got a magnificent spring in the air for someone of 5ft 10in.

“He has a good intelligence, a good feel for the game. We have done well to get the kid. He may just do well straight away. But everyone keeps missing the point because the most important thing is to get our centre backs fit again.”

While no date has been set for Rio Ferdinand’s return from a persistent back injury, Ferguson does expect Vidic to be available in 10 days’ time following his late withdrawal before United’s FA Cup third-round defeat by Leeds United that left his manager nonplussed.

“I can tell you now that Vidic felt a bit of a problem with the nerve going down the right side of his leg and it had been a problem for him,” Ferguson admitted. “He didn’t feel confident about playing the game but we have the problem under control.”

Ferguson, meanwhile, dismissed as “a load of nonsense” reports that Gary Neville will retire at the end of the season.

“There has not been a decision about Gary Neville,” said Ferguson. “Why make a decision about his future when we don’t need to? You don’t make decisions like that in the middle of the season. It is a load of nonsense.”

- Guardian Service