Manchester United have made a long-term decision not to sign any players aged 26 or above for large transfer fees because of new financial stipulations that have been put in place at Old Trafford, reports The Guardian. Dimitar Berbatov, who was 27 when he signed from Tottenham last September, has been described as the "last of his kind."

The restrictions automatically mean that Bayern Munich's 26 year old Franck Ribery will not be heading for the Theatre of Dreams.

Instead, the policy from now onwards is that the club will have a strict age-before-ability approach in which they will sign players in big-money deals only if they will retain a significant market value some years after signing a five- or six-year contract.

This explains why United did not make any effort to sign 27 year old Kaka, when he became available for £59m from Milan.