United's troubles continues

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed Manchester United have turned down a bid from Real Madrid for Ruud van Nistelrooy as they have not given an acceptable valuation.

There is no agreement with Real Madrid and Manchester United over Ruud,' said Ferguson. 'We have refused their offer. He remains a Manchester United player.' The door is not shut on Real though as a deal can still be reached if they bid nearer to United's £15million valuation than the current £10million it is believed they have bid.

With Van Nistelrooy's short-term future still undecided and interest in Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres making little progress, Ferguson may stick with his current strikeforce. Soccer Pundit feels that the strike department is still competitive if van Nistelrooy sticks around, however, how much of an effect their personal feud will have on United's championship aspiration will be difficult to predict.

Meanwhile, the search for an additional midfielder remains futile as they failed to get Michael Carrick. 'We are trying to sign another central midfielder,' said Ferguson. 'We have made a bid for Michael Carrick but they (Tottenham) turned it down.'

Ferguson did not elaborate on the Carrick issue but he did hint at a possible bid for Patrick Vieira should he receive confirmation the former Arsenal man wishes to leave scandal-hit Juventus, who are now bound for the depths of Serie B. 'We have to see what Juventus are planning for their players,' said Ferguson. 'Vieira, (Fabio) Cannavaro and (Gianluca) Buffon are all top players and there are question marks about where they are going next season.'

Soccer Pundit feels that the midfield is indeed a great concern to their title challenge. Since the departure of Roy Keane halfway through the last season and his successor Liam Miller has not lived up to his billing (and is slated to leave), they have not found a dominant and inspirational midfielder to drive the team forward. At least, Arsenal has Cesc Fabregas waiting in the wings when Patrick Vieira was sold to Juventus.

Soccer Pundit has a look at their squad list and is very worried at their lack of depth. Currently, they have Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Chris Eagles, David Jones, Liam Miller, Paul Scoles, Jonathan Evans, Park ji-Sung, Kieran Richardson, Darren Fletcher, Ritchie Jones and a converted midfielder Alan Smith.

Besides the veterans who can hold their own against Chelsea's power-packed midfield, more than half of them are budding youngsters and do not yet possess the big-stage experience. It has become more critical than ever to bring top-rated midfielders to Old Trafford, otherwise this could be the first season where United may find itself languishing in mid-table since the '90s...