Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has explained to fans why they haven't spent the £80 million raised from Cristiano Ronaldo's sale to Real Madrid.

In his column for United Review, Ferguson wrote: "I know there will be some fans who are disappointed that we didn't spend the princely £80million we got for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid on another superstar. I would have done had I felt we were getting value for our money, but this close-season some crazy things went on and the price of the game's major players went through the roof.

"The asking price for players we were looking at just wasn't realistic and we held off. I think we have shown over the years that we are not afraid to spend big and we have in fact frequently created transfer fee records, but only when we felt the business made financial sense. The level of the fees being demanded in recent months just didn't add up.

"So we stood off, but what you must remember is that we are working from a position of strength. We don't suddenly have to splash out to try to compete at the top. We are already there, thanks to a long-term strategy of buying mostly young players, who we feel have the potential to become top performers. Cristiano Ronaldo was a case in point. We spotted him and bought him for a modest £12m. You know the rest. In the six years we had him he became the world's best player, and we certainly wish him well with the rest of his career."