Van Nistelrooy in melting pot

RUUD VAN NISTELROOY'S plane to Manchester was delayed yesterday but having waited an injury-wasted year to reach Old Trafford a few extra minutes' hold-up was not going to trouble the Dutchman unduly. United gave their £19 million signing from PSV Eindhoven a fanfare welcome but amid the hullabaloo, the sound of flash guns popping and transfer records being broken, the patter of tiny feet racing towards United's first team could also be heard.

Yesterday encapsulated Sir Alex Ferguson's approach to team-building: as an expensive import was arriving from the airport, underneath the flightpath Michael Stewart, a Scottish midfielder barely out of his teens, was preparing for his Premiership debut against Middlesbrough today.

No-one knows whether Stewart will make the grade, but Ferguson never shies from giving youngsters a chance, just as he is never scared to pay millions for established stars such as van Nistelrooy. Ferguson's philosophy is a winning one and also characterises enlightened policies at the season's other limelight clubs: the Liverpool of Hyypia and Gerrard, the Leeds United of Viduka and Smith and the Ipswich Town of Hreidarsson and Bramble.

"What Sir Alex has managed to do better than anyone is to bring new talent in and blend it with existing talent and continue to win," said Peter Kenyon, United's chief executive, yesterday. As the production line continues to roll - Wes Brown plays right-back today while Luke Chadwick may start on the left (the pair, almost symbolically, replacing older-generation home grown players in Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs respectively) - the stars glide in from the airport.

"We have demonstrated we are prepared to spend money for the right players - Stam, Yorke, Barthez and today Ruud," Kenyon added. "We are not frightened of spending money; it's a question of getting the right players. We are as hungry as ever to repeat our successes of the past." To which Ferguson added: "We may sign one or two more players." The money is there. So was the warning to their rivals.

Van Nistelrooy, who begins his five-year United contract on July 1, was untroubled about the money United had invested in him. "The price is not heavy for me - it lifts me up because it means United have big confidence in me." His favourite players were Diego Maradona and Marco van Basten, whose all-round forward game he echoes, although Rinus Michels, coach to van Basten and Holland during their triumphant Euro 88, believes van Nistelrooy to be a "more decisive finisher".

Van Nistelrooy argued that comparisons with van Basten were "unfair" as "there will never be a player like Van Basten again. But of course I am flattered; if I have a little bit of his qualities, it could be magnificent". Ferguson praised Van Nistelrooy's "variety" of goals and anyone who saw van Basten in his pomp with Holland or AC Milan would remember warmly his range of finishing.

Ferguson has long been alerted to van Nistelrooy but "the real awareness of him" came in 1998 when Ferguson's son, Darren, was undergoing a trial at Heerenveen, where van Nistelrooy was already seizing headlines. "Darren came back and said: `You've got to sign van Nistelrooy right away, he's fantastic.' I said: `We've been watching him.' Darren said: `Well, sign him.' On the next Saturday, we sent people to the game and PSV were there and signed him the next day."

The rise from PSV's £4.2 million to £19 million reflects how van Nistelrooy and football have developed in three years. "At 24 years he is going to improve," Ferguson stressed. "There's no pressure on him being a `saviour' of the club because the club is established in terms of success. What we are trying to do is improve the team by one or two per cent every year. Ruud will do that."

And all the while, tyros such as Stewart are banging on the dressing-room door. "I'm going to play Stewart against Middlesbrough," Ferguson said. "When you've got good young players, you must give them a go. Maybe that will liven us again because there was real disappointment after the Bayern game. We've got to give Stewart a game to see what he is made of. He's a strong lad, got good physique. He's fiery." Indeed; Stewart's first-team experience comprises five minutes and one booking against Sunderland in the League Cup.

So the re-tuning of the Big Red Machine continues. "Winning the Premiership title three consecutive years has been overshadowed a bit by an over-reaction to a `crumbling' team," said Kenyon of the post-Bayern hysteria. "I certainly don't subscribe to the doomsday scenario and this signing demonstrates that Manchester United are a force in Europe." The empire is striking back.