Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson stands by his decision not to spend big this summer.
He maintains there is money to spend, despite the huge debts incurred by the Glazer family's ownership of the Old Trafford outfit.
However, the man who splashed out a club record £30.75million on Dimitar Berbatov has now clarified exactly what he is looking for when he talks about value.
"We could have bought one or two players for a lot of money in the summer but I didn't necessarily see that they were going to make us really so much better," he said.
"Take away the money side of it; the actual players we looked at would not have done what Eric Cantona did for us for instance, or Wayne Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo.
"That is what I am talking about. You are trying to make that quantum leap to another level."
