Fergie's transfer plans in tatters: United looking at secondary targets...

When news of Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid broke it soon became clear the player was going to be sold, even at the expense of the manager being unable to find a suitable goal-scoring replacement. The rationale behind the club's decision to sell Ronaldo was simple; grab Real Madrid's £80m now because we might not be able to find anyone. As inevitable as Ronaldo's move surely was, that scenario is one the fans' need to grasp, because there is no other plausible conclusion.

As things have turned out, United look to have lost out to Madrid again with the news that Fergie's "number one" summer transfer target Karim Benzema is expected to sign for the Spanish club, it's a bitter blow, but only the deluded and those who believe tabloid hype will be surprised because all along it was known the French striker fancied a move to either Spain or Italy.

On a personal note, I don't know about other United fans, but I don't want to sign a player who doesn't have his heart set on playing for the club, in this instance it would surely only have been a matter of time before the French striker plotted a move to Spain.

As things stand now United's planning, or lack of it, looks awful, the club stands accused of failing to make preparations for the exits of Ronaldo and Tevez. It's as if these moves have come out of the blue this summer, in point of fact the manager and fans alike have been aware for some time that Tevez might move on and there's been much debate about Fergie giving Ronaldo the option of leaving.

The fact is United have rarely been able to attract the world's top talent to Old Trafford, rather than chasing fool’s gold, perhaps Ferguson should be concentrating on finding and developing the next Ronaldo. United should continue to blood young players like the Da Silva brothers and Macheda - that is the future...and we have to remember the bedrock of the solid back four is still in place.

It might well take United two to three seasons to get over the events of this summer - possibly even longer than that given Fergie will retire sooner rather than later. Antonio Valencia has been signed from Wigan, but he's not going to score the goals next season, added to which the manager can no longer rely on the experience of players like Scholes and Neville who are both a year older.

Fergie has relied on Ronaldo a lot during his time at Old Trafford - who could blame him? However, now he's gone it's fair to ask if the manager has a plan B? The challenge is to become more of a team - one that relies less on one player and one that collectively scores more goals. It's a very big ask given the current squad, it is hard to see where those goals will come from.

It would be ridiculous to completely write-off United before a ball has been kicked, but at this juncture it isn't looking good, but we know the club will bounce back, they always do and having followed the club since the late 60s I know that as well as anyone.