MANCHESTER UNITED last night vowed that they would use football's growing financial crisis to reinforce their power on and off the field.
The cash problems within the game were highlighted by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger last week.
Wenger's warnings were illustrated as Inter Milan asked Ronaldo and Christian Vieri to accept voluntary pay-cuts and Real Madrid insisted they would not be adding to their Champions League-winning squad for the new season.
But last night United chief executive Peter Kenyon promised the Old Trafford side were determined to use their financial muscle to take full advantage of the depressed state of the market.
United have been boosted by their new £300million kit sponsorship deal with Nike and Kenyon said: "We're cash-rich and work on a well-resourced basis. That's helped us to do as well as we have over the past decade, on and off the pitch.
"But at a time like this, when money is tighter than it has been for a long time, that comes into its own.
"The transfer market is as tight as it has ever been. That's been driven by the biggest clubs in what have traditionally been the biggest-spending countries - Italy and Spain - not having the money they've had in the past.
"The consequence of that is that there hasn't been a lot of activity by normal standards, with clubs looking to sell rather than to buy.
"We're not in that position. Clearly we're not going to over-spend. Then again, in the market-place as it is there's no need to do that, because the players are already there on the market."
It was a statement of intent by the man with his hands on the United purse-strings and, while Sir Alex Ferguson believes that tinkering rather than major surgery is required, Kenyon will back his manager with hard cash.
Top of what was described as a "short hit-list" is Rio Ferdinand, but if the England defender does stay at Leeds, United will move for Alessandro Nesta of Lazio or Parma's Fabio Cannavaro.
Kenyon said: "We all accepted the defence, and in particular the centre of the defence, was the area we needed to strengthen.
"Getting the defence right was very much the priority. If you look at the size of our squad, it's not about having to bring in lots of players. It's about quality rather than quantity.
"We don't have to bring in five or six players, as Liverpool are talking about doing. The strength in depth is already there for us. We're only looking to bring in the players who will improve what we have.
"If you're looking to sign those world-class players, it always takes longer than if you're just bringing in a utility player.
"There is no panicking with us. It's about getting in the best players. We don't believe in buying players for one season or to get us over a short-term situation.
"It's about making sure we get players who are the right age and are going to continue to give us what we need for a few seasons, not just one campaign."
While £19million striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy was a big success, one of those whose United career had seem set to last just the one campaign is Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron.
But Kenyon made it clear he expects the former Lazio schemer to prove his value this season.
Kenyon added: "When we brought Veron it wasn't about a one-season thing.
"Juan is a Manchester United player. There has been a huge amount of speculation about him, but none of it has come from us. It's ill-founded. We all know that it isn't easy to settle into English football, but nobody will tell me he isn't a world-class player, by any standards.
"Everybody saw what happened at Arsenal with Robert Pires, how difficult he found it in his first year and how well he played last season. I believe, absolutely, that Juan can make the same impact for us this year."
So far the only guaranteed new face at Old Trafford is Ferguson's surprise choice as his new assistant, Mozambique-born former South Africa coach Carlos Queiroz.
But any doubters among the United fans were told that the Old Trafford board could not be more happy with the new appointment.
Kenyon said: "What we have this time, which we didn't last year, is a bit of certainty.
"I think everybody, maybe including ourselves, under-estimated the impact of the situation at the start of last season.
"It was all about us having nine players whose contracts were running out, Roy Keane going, the manager going. That's all been sorted out, as well as the David Beckham situation.
"One of the major factors behind category as the others."
Recapturing the title lost to Arsenal is first on United's agenda, but there is also another huge prize in their sights - winning a third European Cup on home soil, with this season's final staged at Old Trafford.
Kenyon added: "Winning the championship again is a critical target. We want to do better in the FA Cup and there's that elusive Champions League again. That doesn't hold any fears for us.
"Last year all the focus was on Alex in his final season and winning it at Hampden.
"It didn't happen but this year the final is at Old Trafford and winning it there would be no less a feat, perhaps even more of one for our fans."our success has been that Alex has always had a good No 2, the best in the country. He had Archie Knox, then Brian Kidd and then Steve McClaren. We missed Steve, certainly and there was disruption. But now we have Carlos and there's no doubt that Carlos is in the same.
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