Fergie misses out

Sir Alex Ferguson's dream of buying an awesome array of world-class talent and ensuring a grand finale to his last season is in danger of collapse after a series of crushing transfer market setbacks.

For all the highlights that have established him as one of football's greatest-ever managers, Ferguson believes the ultimate reward is still calling out to him.

The Manchester United boss is adamant that bowing out as a Champions' League winner in his native Glasgow next May would eclipse even his most notable achievements and is equally resolute about the level of investment needed for it to become a reality.

Ferguson handpicked a shortlist of transfer targets before going on holiday and was aghast to discover, a month later, that virtually every name had been scrubbed off it.

He has been forced to examine a B list of candidates and has already suffered a rebuff after being told that centre-back Kevin Hofland is unattainable for at least another 12 months after signing an extension to his PSV Eindhoven contract.

Ferguson's plans for recruiting Emmanuel Petit, Bixente Lizarazu, Lilian Thuram, Patrick Vieira, Zine-dine Zidane and Kieron Dyer are in tatters after a clampdown by United's paymasters over assessing ages as well as wages before committing themselves to inflationary transfer fees.

It has left the exasperated United manager back at square one in his efforts to strengthen his squad and, more worryingly, put him on collision course with Old Trafford's money men once more.

United's financial director David Gill admitted as much by confirming Sportsmail's account of why Thuram, one of Ferguson's top priorities, was allowed to slip through the net and complete a £22million move from Parma to Juventus. 'It is true that the fee was a very significant factor in the deal becoming a problem for us,' said Gill. 'Thuram is a great player who has done it all and figured in our deliberations for the past two or three years, just as Gabriel Batistuta used to.

'But the fact of the matter is that he is now 29, and the fee for a player of his age was an issue with us.'

While age also counted against a substantial bid being made for Bayern Munich's 31-year-old left-back Lizarazu, Ferguson found himself confronted by a clear indication that United's renowned pulling power may be on the wane as Vieira looked towards Juventus for a route out of Highbury and Dyer hinted that Leeds could be his preferred choice if Newcastle relented over his future.