Manchester, England, Aug 11: It seems the biggest story in world football this summer was hardly noticed by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

David Beckham's transfer to Real Madrid dominated the media for weeks as the England captain finally cut his ties with the English champions.
But Ferguson prefers to look forward rather than back and having decided to accept Madrid's millions clearly believes United will prosper in Beckham's absence.
''A couple of players have gone, Laurent Blanc, David May, and we've brought in three,'' Ferguson told the Sunday Times. ''We've really got the same squad that won the championship last season.''
Beckham played his part in bringing the premier league title to Old Trafford for the eighth time in 11 seasons. But tellingly he was absent from the starting line-up in key games during United's pursuit of domestic and european honours.



Having missed out on Barcelona-bound Ronaldinho, United still have much of the Beckham money -- 25 million pounds of it -- to spend.



The sale of Juan Sebastian Veron for 15 million pounds to Chelsea has boosted the coffers further.



Equally worrying for their title rivals, Ferguson believes his side has regained its hunger for success after coming from behind to beat Arsenal to the Championship in May.



''We re-invented ourselves by winning the league. We got back to where we were,'' said the manager, whose own appetite was also sharpened by stepping back from the brink of retirement the season before last.


Bureau Report