Michael Carrick became United's first summer signing on July 31, ending almost two months of speculation that he would be on his way to Old Trafford.

Many tabloids mooted the move back in May, to their credit, and were rarely of any doubt that Sir Alex Ferguson would get his man in the end.

They were even more vehement, however, that Fernando Torres would trade Spain for England and leave Atletico Madrid. The player's press conference to state the exact opposite unbelievably failed to dampen speculation.

Sir Alex's admission that he was monitoring the Italian match-fixing scandal prompted Serie A's finest talents to be linked with moves to United, not least Patrick Vieira - who eventually joined Inter Milan.

Spain's Marcos Senna and Javier Mascherano were both strongly tipped for transfers to Old Trafford, although the latter eventually claimed to be happy to stay with Corinthians.