From Sporting Life....ah poor, poor dear. :-) EDWARDS GIVES FERGIE RUUD AWAKENING

By David Anderson, PA Sport

Martin Edwards has told Sir Alex Ferguson the record #19million signing of Ruud van Nistelrooy has wiped out his transfer kitty and that he will now have to sell a striker.

Van Nistelrooy was due to complete his blockbusting move to Manchester United from PSV Eindhoven today, and Edwards has warned Ferguson he will have to sell before he can buy anyone else.

The United chairman even went as far as to say that spending so much money on just one player "doesn't actually make sense".

First out of the Old Trafford exit will be a striker, and Edwards claims having five frontline forwards is one too many.

"I don't think that sensibly you can keep five strikers happy, so I think there will be some movement out. But that's down to the manager," he said.

"The manager obviously was keen to buy van Nistelrooy and he now has to decide which of his other strikers he feels he can get by without."

Teddy Sheringham is likely to make Ferguson's decision for him and the 34-year-old is widely expected to leave on a free transfer this summer.

United would not recoup a penny from Sheringham's departure, and Edwards claims Ferguson has already overspent for the year with the signing of van Nistelrooy.

Edwards poured cold water on talk that United could make another big-money signing this summer - possibly Sol Campbell from Tottenham.

He also pointed out that Ferguson had already made a substantial hole in his transfer fund by spending #10million on Mickael Silvestre, Massimo Taibi and Quinton Fortune during the season.

"Manchester United earns roughly #30million a year profit," Edwards said on BBC TV News.

"You then have tax, which makes it about #20million a year. Then you have to pay #5million for a dividend, so you've got #15million to spend.

"That's not just on players - that's on ground improvements and everything else.

"So clearly to go and spend all that on one player - more than you actually earn - doesn't actually make sense.

"And don't forget this year we have already bought players. We've brought in Taibi in; we've brought Silvestre in and we've brought Fortune in.

"So we've already spent how many millions this year, so it makes economic sense to balance the books.

"It seems strange to be talking about spending more when we've just spent #18million on a centre-forward.

"As I've said before the economics of the thing are if you are buying, sooner or later you will have to balance the books, look at the size of the squad and say do you need so many players in the squad?

"What do you need sensibly to challenge for the top honours domestically and in European football?

"We have a huge squad and we actually have about 67 professional players on our books, and I think we probably have 20 professional players more than any other club.

"So you need to look at all these things."

Edwards' words are unlikely to go down well with Ferguson and they could re-open the simmering feud between the two.

United boss Ferguson has also said several times over the last couple of days that he does not want to sell anyone.

Ferguson wrote in his autobiography 'Managing My Life' that money has always been a source of friction between the pair.

Ferguson has always been unhappy with the size of his salary and the club's reluctance, in his eyes, to buy big.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000