Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is excited about his striker options.

Dimitar Berbatov is expected to leave if a club is prepared to meet his £5m asking price, while Ferguson hopes to fend off competition from Manchester City and Juventus for want-away Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie.

"I always consider 1998-99 as the gold standard of Manchester United strikers," said Ferguson. "We had Cole, Yorke, Sheringham, and Solskjaer, and when we needed a goal one of them would deliver.

"It happened so many times. I was always confident that whoever I was sending on could grab us a goal. The options I'm now starting to see in this squad remind me of that era. I hope we see a lot of goals.

"The hardest thing for me will be to pick the right pairing for the right games. And of course one or two may develop particularly good understandings with another. It's going to be interesting."