Sir Alex Ferguson: Influx of younger players can come in to replace Manchester United veterans

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he has long planned for the departures of senior Manchester United stars in order to keep his side competitive.

The club lost Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Edwin Van der Sar to retirement this season while veteran defenders John O’Shea and Wes Brown moved to Sunderland.

But the Scot believes the business done over the past few seasons and over this summer – with Phil Jones, Ashley Young and David de Gea all coming in – will help keep United successful for many years to come.

Ferguson told the Daily Mirror: “We always try to look ahead and we’ve an influx of young players coming in to replace the older ones who are starting to die on their feet.

“It’s obvious the last three years we were well aware of the need to replace Ryan Giggs. Fortunately he’s managed to carry on and still perform the way he does, but Neville and Scholes both retired, as did Van der Sar.

“We were well aware we were going to have to replace them at some point, so the work over the last two or three years has been all about that, but we have to make sure we still have the quality in the squad for success.”