English champions Manchester United are in very strong financial position in spite of the fact that they have been rather quiet during the summer transfer window.

With 80 million pounds sterling from the proceeds of Cristiano Ronaldo, of which 18 million were wired to Wigan Athletic for Antonio Valencia who is supposed to fill the vacuum left by the Portuguese – to the best of his ability, anyway. And with more than 60 million in the pocket at disposal, Ferguson is apparently reluctant to spend, at least for now.

"We are not looking for mercenaries" was his blunt message, quoted by the Times of London. The point he is making is  that players who will be coming to Old Trafford must be fully committed to the cause of the club and give it all they have, and not just use United as a transitional phase or a trampoline.

Perhaps this is the reason why there is no pressure from the supporters, nor the Glazer family for him to go and splash out the cash. In comparison to their next door neighbours, who have been throwing bundles of cash galore,  for Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and Gareth Barry. - in view of that promiscuous spending by both Real Madrid and City, United seem to be treading carefully, but smartly. Michael Owen walked in for free, and the youngsters Gabriel Obertan and Mame Biram Diouf were just shrapnel.

Is this another ingenious move by the Scotsman? He has vowed that City will not poise a serious title challenge this season, regardless of the cash spent – he is banking on the traditional threat from Anfield and the Bridge. But neither Liverpool nor Chelsea have so far done massive strides in reinforcing their squads. Chelsea are experiencing the wrong end of the stick for the first time themselves since the Russian revolution – they are beginning to learn what it is like to have someone outbid them for every player on the market. Liverpool meanwhile, who signed Glen Johnson, are currently fighting tooth and nail to keep some of they key players like Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano.

"The manager has a significant amount of money to invest if he wants to," said Tehsin Nayani, the spokesman for the Glazer family told the Guardian.

"The delay has been because the manager has not been able to locate the players he believes fit the Manchester Unitedmindset – players who are motivated to play for United. You don't want mercenaries and you don't want to pay over the odds for players not willing to give their all for the club."

To reinforce that notion, Ferguson was quoted as telling the Times of London.

"On a normal business level, United is in a very strong position and, so far, unaffected by the downturn.

And in a show of defiance, regarding the meteoric rise of City next door, Ferguson simply said: "All talk" And as far as signing Carlos Tevez for 25 million pounds sterling, the Scotsman added - "was Tevez worth £25.5m? Definitely not for Manchester United"