Football

Sir Alex Ferguson quickly demonstrated he will not rest on his laurels despite his ninth Premiership title as Manchester United manager, claiming a triple transfer swoop was in the offing in the close season.

United claimed the Premiership title for the first time since 2003 as Chelsea failed to beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, drawing 1-1 and leaving them with an insurmountable seven-point deficit with just two games to play.

But Fergie knows that Chelsea will come back stronger than ever next season and after United's Champions League quest fell away courtesy of a lack of defensive cover when injuries reared their head, the Scot is planning on bolstering every area of the tam.

He has told chief executive David Gill the trio of new faces he believes will give United their best chance of finishing top of the pile again next term.

"We have outlined three targets and David Gill is aware of them," said Ferguson.

"As everyone knows, there is competition for the best players

and when there is competition, it costs, so we will just have to wait and see."

Ferguson refused to go public with the names of the players United will go for but Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves will certainly be one, with Tottenham's Dimitar Berbatov also believed to be near the top of his list.

While Spurs boss Martin Jol may be unwilling to part with Berbatov 12 months after selling Michael Carrick to United, the blow may be softened by the arrival in return of Louis Saha, whose United days appear to be numbered.

If rumours of a Juventus move for Gabriel Heinze prove correct then young Southampton defender Gareth Bale, whom Ferguson targeted during the last transfer window, can also expect to be on the United manager's hit-list.

However, in the knowledge that Chelsea are bound to splash the cash this summer in a bid to overhaul his side, Ferguson is keen to do his business quietly.

"Manchester United has always been an attraction," he said. "We have 76,000 people watching us every week and have a celebrity status which means we are known throughout the

world.

"It is not a question of attracting players. The real competition comes when Chelsea pay 27 million pounds for someone like Michael Essien. They can outbid us all.

"We identify players as quietly as we can so we can do things quickly. It is not easy, but that is what we are trying to do."