Level-headed sensibility

Gabriel Obertan (STG3 million), Michael Owen (free transfer) and Antonio Valencia (STG17 million) with Alex Ferguson (priceless)

"There is no need to panic. We should not panic because of one player leaving. I don't think any of the transfers – if you look at them – are realistic. We have a very good squad and some good young players. There was no need to have a knee jerk reaction of losing him.

"We are in the middle of a difficult summer and it's difficult to get value. But I think we have got good value; it's the right way to go for us. I can only placate fans in one way and that's by not being stupid. We have that wonderful sum of money from Real but we are not going to throw it away and spend it in situations when an extra zero is being placed on fees. With Benzema, the price tag was beyond his value. We had a value and didn't want to go above that. All this says is we are sensible."