Rafa Benitez’s future is said to be cleared up within the week amid reports that he could leave Liverpool for Juventus on a £3.5 million a year contract. This so called meeting with the new chairman Martin Broughton, has been delayed twice in the past two years which suggests that, thankfully, Benitez is on his way out of Merseyside.

Admittedly he has had trouble with the Icelandic volcano ash and the ridiculously long houred trip to Spain via road and rail, but surely since he has been back from Spain he could have met with Martin Broughton? Benitez has had many an opportunity to quell speculation of his leaving and verbally pledge his future to Liverpool through the press.

Benitez’s track record with Liverpool hasn’t been particularly astounding considering the amount of talent he has had at the tip of his fingertips! Owen, Carragher, Gerrard, Torres, Reina, Mascherano, Alonso, Johnson, Fowler. All this talent and yet only a return of 4 trophies, 2005 Champions League, 2005 Super Cup, 2006 FA Cup, 2006 Community Shield and a runner up medal in the 2007 Champions league final. Admittedly 4 trophies in 5 years is a great return for any manager, but really with the amount of quality Benitez has had at his disposal, he should have won more including the 2009 Premiership.

Only until his outrageous burst at Fergie, Liverpool looked like they could really win the Premiership for the first time in almost 20 years! But again, his unpredictable behaviour came into question, as the Liverpool team seemed to be playing with nerves and fragility from then on until the end of the season. That’s a huge shame, as believe it or not, I am a big Liverpool fan myself and would have relished the crown of the Premiership back in Liverpools trophy cabinet!

During the off season, Benitez for some unknown reason to me, dismantled that team with the loss of one of the most fundamental player in our team! Xabi Alonso. Okay, if you sell Xabi Alonso then yo uhave to replace him with another player that can effciently get the job done! Signing Lucas, was not the answer. I would reccomend Jimmy Bullard!

Furthermore, spending £20 million on a talented player such as Alberto Aquilani, who you don’t seem to play even though he is fit, until the final stretch of the Premier League. This decision is beyond me, and of course this decision isn’t helped with the childishness of owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks refusal to speak to each other, and plunging the club into further debt!

I have recently read the autobiography of Ian Rush, also I like to add that I know him on a personal level, and he commented, that during Liverpool’s most succesful years, the managers were chosen from the “promote from within policy”. This means that, when Bill Shankly stepped down, the job was appointed to Shankly’s right hand man, Bob Paisley and when Bob stepped down, the job was handed down to Joe Fagan who again worked very close to Bob. Under this policy, Liverpool were unbeatable! This system rewarded Liverpool with 31 Trophies! This included 11 League titles and 20 cup trophies! This is an unbeliveable record to have and therefore I believe it should be instilled again.

Should Rafa leave Merseyside for the Italian sunshine, then I believe the managers to replace him should be:

Roy Hodgson
Harry Redknapp
Mark Hughes
Martin O’neill
Alex Mcleish.

These managers all have pedigree, a good principle of football and are proven in the transfer market. The style of play, I think, would suit the style that would get the best out of the current players, should there not be enough money in the transfer kitty! They would build the team around their assets; Gerrard, Torres, Reina, Mascherano and Carragher to form a potentially title winning side, that would bring more glory back to the Red side of Merseyside.

Unashamedly, I had wanted him to win the award. I do not support the club of his choice but I have always been an admirer of United’s rich tradition of developing marvellous young talent and over the last 18 years Giggs has been a constant marvel to me.

He’d sensationally scored on his full debut the previous season and was the latest name to be branded as ‘the new Georgie Best’.

He was never going to fill those boots but he’s never needed to and it’s significant that the media no longer labels an emerging United kid as the next Bestie. One day they’ll be describing a fledgling Old Trafford talent as the ‘new Giggs’. He is a United legend in his own right - up there with the greatest of them all.

That is the attribute I most associate with Ryan - he has always been dignified

On that sighting back at White Hart Lane I was surprised at his confidence. It was clear he loved to run at opponents in that beautiful, swaying flow that has been a dominant feature of Premier League history.

There was nothing coltish or gangling about the way he took on full-backs. He had the desire and bounce of a boy but the furious concentration and ambition of a man at work and on his way to the top of his profession. He was still a youth team player but he had the carriage of a veteran.

Spurs had started that season well. Gary Lineker had scored 11 goals in the opening seven games including four the previous week at Wimbledon. Giggs turned in a mercurial show and a late Bryan Robson goal won it for United to take them six points clear at the top.

Giggs became a regular as they drew at home to Arsenal, won in style at Crystal Palace and Chelsea but finally tossed it away when Kenny Brown scored a freakish winner for West Ham at Upton Park.

The willowy Welshman looked totally at home alongside the established big names. He seemed to thrive on advice from Robson and took the barking from Schmeichel, Bruce and Ince in his stride. Here was a special player.

In defeat at West Ham and amidst the agony of his first lost title, there was dignity. That is the attribute I most associate with Ryan - he has always been dignified.

There was the odd youthful misdemeanour and paparazzi moment and occasionally he has berated a referee but he has never bad mouthed opponents or the game.

He has always carried himself well and respected football and in return I can’t think of another current player who is now respected as highly and universally as him.

As his career has unfolded the great goals have punctuated many commentaries of Giggs in full flow.

There was a special one to take United back to the top of the table at QPR in January 1993 and the unique FA Cup semi-final wonder winner against Arsenal in 1999. It was a moment of sublime beauty when football, dance, art and history fused into one glorious vision and a man wheeled away twirling his shirt over his head to create an iconic image for ever.

Joy still courses through his body with every shoulder-dipping, hip-swivelling run. Bravery is etched in every painful ache that follows each game and maturity has brought enhanced self-awareness and greater understanding of his place in society. He is a good man.

In an interview he grips the interviewee in an intense stare. The eyes are dark, penetrating and focused, he is humorous and intelligent.

He is the most successful Premier League player of all time. The medals have stacked up - no-one can dispute that - but Ryan Giggs should be remembered for more than that. He has become an emblem for the way football should be played.

As Gary Lineker said on Sunday, he has transcended club rivalries. He is admired by so many, however partisan they may be to United’s rivals.

Ryan Giggs - Sports Personality of the Year 2009. It was a long time coming, it was overdue. Now bring on the knighthood!

Eight months ago Villa were 10 minutes away from ending a barren spell of more than 25 years at Old Trafford.

John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor’s brace had given Villa a 2-1 lead and United were heading for a third league defeat on the spin for the first time since May 2001.

United’s title hopes lay in the balance but then Cristiano Ronaldo got his 20th goal of the season and debutant teenager Macheda grabbed a wonderful injury-time winner. It was the moment the Premier League pendulum swung back United’s way.

Peter Withe was the hero the last time Villa beat Man Utd at Old Trafford!

So this weekend Villa again go in search of their first Old Trafford success since Peter Withe scored the winner in November 1983.

Of the United side on show last time, only Michael Carrick carried hopes of playing for England in the World Cup finals - but seven of the healthy English class in claret and blue would have been optimistic about being on the plane to South Africa.

Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney are shoo-ins for South Africa, assuming nothing happens to them between now and June 2010.

The defence is 100% stronger when Ferdinand plays. Wes Brown’s defensive versatility should get him among the defenders Fabio Capello is likely to take, while Carrick should go as defensive midfield cover for Gareth Barry.

Good luck to Milner, Young, Agbonlahor and the rest!

Owen’s management team produced the 32-page magazine advertising Owen’s qualities - aspirational, cool, devoted and sincere to name but four - and delivered a slick reminder of why he was once one of football’s superstars.

Ferguson does not do brochures to buy players. Pure instinct is often enough and the shock pursuit of Owen, mocked only days ago when Hull City and Stoke City declared an interest, is a prime example.

United’s vast budget, helped by £80m from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo, lets Ferguson shop at the expensive end of the market - but also gives him the opportunity to take the odd chance.

Ferguson has got form for the maverick deal. Eric Cantona was not a regular at Leeds United when Ferguson took him across to Old Trafford and made him one of the legends.

Teddy Sheringham came late to Old Trafford and cleaned up on silverware, while the veteran Henrik Larsson made a contribution when he joined United on loan in December 2006.

Sheringham and Larsson were players Ferguson had long wanted at Old Trafford and it was source of regret that he only got his hands on them in the twilight of their careers. Owen has tempted him before, but now he feels the time and price is right.

As I noted in an earlier blog, Owen represents a gamble worth taking and his wages are not prohibitive when lesser talents will be going for just as much this summer.

The shock of this story is Owen’s destination. Everton and Aston Villa were serious destinations - only for United to come out of nowhere on Thursday afternoon.

So who gets what from this transfer? And will certain other clubs come to regret leaving the field free for Ferguson to set up a deal that comes as a surprise, even to the supposedly unshockable Premier League community?

For Owen, this is a staggering opportunity that he could never have imagined being placed in front of him when he trudged off Villa Park after another cameo appearance for Newcastle United as they dropped into the Championship.

And yet, for all the shockwaves this move will cause, Owen will not turn turn up at Old Trafford believing Ferguson has done him a good turn. He will feel he can benefit Manchester United just as much as they can benefit him.

He has an iron shield of self-belief and has never lost the conviction that his rightful place is at a top four club with aspirations of winning the Premier League and the Champions League.

If anyone doubts that, then they do not know Michael Owen. Single-minded barely does him justice and those who speculated that he had lost his love of football were equally wrong-headed.

This is what made him extraordinary at 16 and will fuel him when he walks into Old Trafford.

He is unlikely to worry about his status with Liverpool’s fans if he puts pen to paper with rivals United, even though a return to Anfield has probably always been his preferred option, especially when he left Real Madrid.

Owen still has influential supporters inside Liverpool’s dressing room who would like to see him back at Anfield, but manager Rafael Benitez has remained unmoved on Owen.

It is a view shaped when he left for Spain at the start of his reign in 2004 and refused to hold out for a move back to Anfield when Newcastle came calling 12 months later - a decision rightly based on the player’s fears of missing the next summer’s World Cup.

Owen will see United as the perfect platform for one last stab at persuaduing Fabio Capello that he is worthy of consideration for England’s World Cup campaign in South Africa next summer.

And he could hardly have asked for a better stage to demonstrate that he should still play a part with England, especially with Wayne Rooney in tandem at club level. Try as you might, it is impossible to detect a downside in this deal for Owen.

Manchester United supporters expecting the arrival of world superstars may need convincing that Owen is the direction they should be heading in. Owen will split opinion, but goals shape verdicts and if he hits the mark early all previous allegiances and injuries will be forgotten.

Ferguson has watched United’s potency decreased by the departure of Ronaldo and
Carlos Tevez. Owen may have lost the searing pace of his youth, but his goalscoring record when fit still stands up to serious examination.

If United create chances, which they do with regularity, Owen is still as good as anyone around at converting them if he is playing and this will have been the final reckoning for Ferguson, who will tailor his role and appearances to draw the best out of such an accomplioshed marksman.

Owen’s fitness will be the question mark over the deal, but Ferguson’s medical team have mastered such things before and it is unlikely he will be thrust into United’s side as a regular.

The striker was being mocked for his failure to attract serious interest only days ago. It does not get more serious than Manchester United - so do not bet against Owen having the last laugh.

For Owen, the deal is a huge victory. For United and Ferguson it represents a gamble - but it is a gamble based on some sound footballing logic and one that others might yet regret not taking.

It was the summer of 2004 and Michael Owen was the Premier League superstar lauded by Real president Florentino Perez, the man who signed off the world record £80m bid for Ronaldo, after his capture from Liverpool.

Owen was handed his Real shirt by the legendary Alfredo di Stefano and Perez greeted him with a message of: “Signing him is following in our tradition. He fits perfectly into the Real Madrid culture.”

How times change. While Ronaldo’s history-making price tag did not even make Real blink, Owen is forced to send out a buyer’s guide to potential purchasers reminding them of the talent that was once a magnet for the world’s biggest clubs.

Owen’s record and pedigree should have suitors queueing down the street to secure his services - and yet it seems a brochure is required to tell selected clubs that one of the best marksmen of his generation is available on a free transfer this summer.

The move by Owen’s management company, Wasserman Media Group, has provoked a reaction ranging from astonishment to mockery - with the cynics suggesting their client is begging for a club as his reported £120,000-a-year contract at Newcastle United draws to a close.

The document details Owen’s career achievements, outlines “Brand Values” and informing those lurking in the market that he retains global appeal - and, perhaps most importantly, it also contains a four-page medical review reassuring the doubters that he is fit and healthy.

The notion of Owen needing to advertise his wares could be construed as a sign of how far his star has fallen during four injury-plagued and unfulfilling years on Tyneside that ended in relegation from the Premier League.

But is it such a bad idea after all? Not really. Talking up a prize asset to the market and making the Premier League aware that here is a gamble that might just be worth taking.

Owen is not the player he was - he will admit that himself. And his recent injury record will nag at the back of the minds of managers pondering the idea of taking a plunge.

He has lost a yard of the searing pace that marked his stunning arrival on the global stage at the 1998 World Cup, but set him against the price of some of the buys being touted this summer, and the idea of signing Owen for a contract worth around £50,000-a-week surely has merit. But I would be amazed if he didn’t get a club.

Owen looked short on confidence in his closing appearances for Newcastle, but there remains the hope that his fire would be rekindled in happier surroundings and supplied with greater quality.

And Owen would not be short on motivation. He may have to adjust his sights as someone who believes his ability should always be shown on the highest stage, because the top four are probably out of his range at this stage of his career.

But with a World Cup only 12 months away, he will want one final tilt at showing England coach Fabio Capello he is worth considering for South Africa, so any buyer will have a player fuelled by the idea of a parting shot at a major tournament.

So who are the potential takers for Owen?

Everton would appear to be the perfect fit for Owen from a personal and professional viewpoint - a boyhood blue before nailing his colours to the mast of rivals Liverpool to such great effect.

Boss David Moyes has tried and failed to sign Owen before, and is currently understood to be “50/50″ about pursuing a deal this summer.

Everton need attacking reinforcements with Yakubu still recovering from injury, but is there a place for both Owen and Saha at Goodison Park? This will tax the mind of Moyes before he makes his decision.

Owen is also believed to be concerned about the reaction on Merseyside should he sign for Everton after making himself such a prominent figure in Liverpool’s recent history. Past form tells us fans forget allegiances if strikers are finding the net - and Owen has always backed himself to do that.

Aston Villa have been linked with Owen. If Owen moved to Villa, he could reignite a partnership with Emile Heskey that proved fruitful at club level with Liverpool and in internationals with England.

Heskey, however, has not established himself at Villa and it is tough to see where Owen would fit into the current set-up with John Carew, allied to the pace of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young.

Manchester City are retaining an interest, but Mark Hughes looks to be setting his sights at the more expensive end of the market - although Owen could yet emerge as a cheaper option and is likely to welcome the interest.

Owen has support from key players inside the Liverpool camp, who see the benefits of signing him on a free transfer, but he left shortly after Rafael Benitez’s arrival in 2004 and a failed attempt to bring him back to Anfield before he joined Newcastle a year later probably ended any chance of an emotional return.

West Ham United and Spurs have been mentioned in dispatches. Panathinaikos and Roma have been named as other possible buyers, but it is clear Owen wants to continue his career in the Premier League and not as a member of European football’s undercard.

It all leaves Owen in an unlikely form of limbo as he waits for his next club to make a firm move - but despite the doubts over his fitness and recent record, his proven class is still likely to be enough of a sales pitch to tempt managers to keep him in the Premier League.

Could it be that like the late great George Best and Tommy Docherty that Rafa Benitez has ruined Owen’s career?

Comments are welcome

No disrespect but… put Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein and the Footballing Goats of Skiathos in a qualifying group, so we don’t have to watch them scratch and stumble through another good pasting. It’s just plain silly.

Some fans had to walk to Wembley on Wednesday, which is more or less what the players did throughout the 90 minutes.

The only problem is when England get comfy against opposition as feeble as this, they start trying to play neat one-twos and crafty give-n-gos and suddenly you realise how Capello has changed England.

Still 6-0, seven wins out of seven, well done Fabio - and well done everyone in the camp for being downright embarrassed to even consider winning the World Cup. The golden generation couldn’t do it, so unless this is the platinum variety we’re best to keep schtum. (Mind, judging from some of the Saturday night, it could in fact be the diamond generation).

Anyway, the news in Football gathers pace and with Real Madrid newly minted from their spectral bank accounts, the day has finally arrived when the Premier League must say goodbye to the childish, arrogant,  frustrating and yet a wonderful football player the Premier League has seen, since Cantona.

Aurevior the French would say. No more will you rise imperious at the back stick in a way that fish jump out of water order to power home a header.

No more will you double-shuffle over a ball for no apparent reason except because you can. No more will you race like some chestnut thoroughbred toward the penalty box and then launch effortlessly into the horizontal before gravity finally takes hold and pulls you into a couple of forward rolls and the final writhing racked-with-pain theatricals that always undermine all the other stuff. Of course, he will still be doing all that… but at the Bernabeu.

I won’t miss him. To think, three years ago he was just Nani with a step-over. The lad owes a lot to Ferguson. All the fancy-dannery did nothing for the team but clearly Sir Alex got him to knuckle down and the season of the 42 goals may never be surpassed in my lifetime.

And whatever else we feel about the bloke - and there’s no doubt that referees will be pleased to see the back of him - he has scored some of the most remarkable goals the Premier League has seen.

I assume United will be in the market - well let’s face it with £80m at their disposal they could probably successfully clone Cristiano 11 times and when they inevitably meet Real in the Champs league, Ronaldo would be up against 11 versions of himself. Trouble is he’d like that.

Not sure it would work, actually. It’d be just 11 poseurs railing at each other for 90 minutes - and United would have to hire an artic truck to bring  in the hair product for his stupid hairsyles every game.

It’s good business for United. Ferguson knows when to sell the geese that lay the golden eggs. I have a feeling that while Sir Alex could’ve pretty much laid down the law to even the stroppiest superstar, Pellegrini’s going to have a job keeping a lid on the Hissy-fits.

They’ll need a Mourinho in there to lay down some rules too. Plus a Senna or a Mascherano to sit tight and do the dirty work.

No wonder Alex wasn’t too bothered by the over-reaction in the Manchester derby towards the end of the season just gone by. He knew that Ron was soon to be on his bike.  But come on, that’s something you would expect a hormanl teenager to do and I hope Real’s kitman doesn’t mind a towel being thrown out of his hands.

I imagine that United will be beefing up the midfield that was so easily out-passed in the Champs League final. If they can buy in an Arshavin or two I don’t suppose the neutral will be complaining.

Whatever happens it’s going to be one almighty bunfight amongst the rich clubs, and with Benitez’s hands apparently tied by the ropy finances of Gillett and Hicks, it looks like there’s going to be one major loser in the top flight this summer.

It would be nice to think Liverpool could spend very little and win the title but I doubt it somehow.

In the pantheon of Premier League greats, Cristiano is right up there. Right up there with Zola, Bergkamp, Giggs, Shearer, Henry and of course Cantona . In fact, if you can put to one side all the things we won’t miss - the pleading, the plummeting, the acting - and look at him in terms of pure football, you have to say he’s one of the best players to have graced the Premier League, but I won’t miss him.

He’s not the nicest - Zola’d win that hands down - nor is he the fairest - and he may well be the one who looks most like a girl - but you’d have to say for the pace, trickery, aerial power and finishing, he is pound-for-pound the best of the lot. Which is not to say I haven’t had enough of the lad.

Good luck in Madrid, Ron. Let’s hope you’ll be playing 90 minutes each week, otherwise we could be seeing you soon…

Returning president Florentino Perez’s search for new Galacticos is clearly driven by the desire to avenge the humiliation inflicted on Real by Barcelona this season, but the merchandising aspect should not be ignored.

Back in 2003, when another United Galactico Beckham went to the Bernabeu, Real earned US$600m in sale of shirts and other merchandising, increasing profits by 137% in the four seasons Beckham was there.

Beckham sold one million shirts in his first six months, at a time when Real was full of Galacticos like Zidane, Raul and the original Ronaldo.

United have made it clear that this sale was done on the say-so of Sir Alex Ferguson. Back in the 1980s when he arrived at United, he was surprised to be told by then-chairman Martin Edwards that United didn’t have big money to spend on players.

He now finds the lines of authority in control exercised by the Americans much easier.

The Glazers, have loaded the club with debt to finance their purchase, trying to increasing revenue that has rarely been seen in the British game.

Contrast the way they have handled this sale with the drama that preceded the sale of Beckham to Real six years ago.

Normally in a transfer, it is the buying club that trumpets it, with the selling club pretending the sale has not yet been done.

But Madrid had a bank holiday, and have said very little, while United put out the announcement on their website as if they were getting rid of a subsidiary that had outlived its purpose.

It reflects the nature of the Glazer-run club. The Glazers will have driven a hard bargain with Madrid but what will be interesting to know is how the Madrid payment of £80m is structured.

Back in 1999, when Madrid bought Nicolas Anelka from Arsenal for £23m, the payment was staged over several years, and Arsenal had some problems getting all the money.

It is unlikely United will have cut Madrid much slack on this, and while Madrid will not have paid on the nail (only Roman Abramovich did that in his first year of ownership of Chelsea), the payment terms will have been tightly drawn.

Although United insist this was a footballing deal, not a commercial one, despite the heavy borrowing the Glazers have made, the money will surely come in very handy for them and Ferguson will surely have this money to try to buy “the next Ronaldo”

As for Real, we have been down this road of populism before with Perez. Whether it brings success on the field or not, the deals he is making do again illustrate what a unique club Real are.

They make their own television deals, something United cannot do, including those of the state, that United cannot call on. It is worth noting that while they also have huge debts, it is mostly from local banks, not international institutions as is the case of United.

There is no denying the huge gamble Perez has taken but that is inevitable in a members’ club when a populist president returns and has to fulfil his manifesto commitments. Such a situation is inconceivable in Britain.

But if you were Fergie, who would you buy? And what do you think of this on going saga that now look sure to come to an end?

Maybe it’s only a coincidence that three of the four men battling to save their sides from the Premier League trapdoor this weekend are all first-time managers.

Yet one of the messages of the season is that experience matters. The leading contenders for manager of the year will mainly be seasoned, battle-hardened campaigners.

Aside from obvious choice Sir Alex Ferguson - whose magnificent achievements I don’t need to list  - I’m thinking of the likes of Roy Hodgson, David Moyes and Tony Pulis.

Each has exceeded what could reasonably have been expected of them at the start of the season.

Ferguson delivered this poser amid the pyrotechnics and partying to mark a third successive title win, a feat that ensured Manchester United hit the hugely-significant landmark of 18 championships, drawing level with Liverpool at the pinnacle of the domestic game.

This statistic alone underscores the scale of Ferguson’s achievements when he insisted United would return from “a nice trip to Rome” as the first club to defend the Champions League.

For now, however, another title triumph and another demonstration of the unique drive, hunger and longevity of Ferguson will suffice.

Rafael Benitez grabbed a few more headlines on Saturday morning with a mystifying claim that the best team does not always win the title, it just means they have more points than anyone else.

Not so Rafa. Not so at all. Any argument is always won by the team holding the trophy and no-one can seriously discredit them.

However much it hurts, the best team always wins the title and, despite a chequered record against those regarded as their closest rivals, this Manchester United team are worthy winners of the Premier League for an 11th time.

Arsenal, playing with the ease of a team knowing all pressure was off, were determined to make sure the point required was not delivered as a formality, but United’s motto this season could be “job done”, and so it proved again.

This is what they have done so often in a gripping chase when they were pursued, first doggedly and then thrillingly, by Liverpool. It is the mark of champions and they will be the yardstick again next season, even though they will face renewed challenges.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney were pushed to the margins of the action by Arsenal, so it was left to others to make the key contributions. Nemanja Vidic’s running battle with Robin van Persie was highly-watchable and the Serb’s solidity won through, while Darren Fletcher ran his usual marathon and demonstrated what United will miss in Rome.

Rooney may not have had joy in the danger zones, but his overall performance deserves a glowing mention in dispatches. He has been an inspirational figure for United, and while he has been justifiably criticised in the past for ill-discipline, he was superb tactically against Arsenal.

Ferguson designated him a left-flank role, and it was a sign of his growing maturity that he sacrificed his natural attacking instincts to carry off this more restricted part, even appearing on occasions as a last line of defence behind Patrice Evra.

Rooney’s willingness to put the team first was a shining example of the ethos fostered by Ferguson and one which he insists must be strictly adhered to.

And lurking behind it all, like some dark sub-plot, was the continuing fall-out from the Carlos Tevez affair, a business so emotive that it cast a temporary cloud of dischord over what were mostly joyous proceedings.

The jeers rang around Old Trafford, only to be quickly replaced by the sound of mass adoration for Tevez, who responded with the sort of lengthy and flamboyant farewell that screamed out this was his final appearance as a United player on this particular turf.

He clearly felt if something was worth doing it was worth over-doing - but at one point there appeared the genuine prospect that he might decide to say a personal goodbye to each of the 75,468 present.

Tevez lingered too long in my opinion. No harm in saluting the fans, but this bordered on the provocative, with a result still to be achieved, and Ferguson’s victory speech was even interrupted by chants of “sign him on.”

All very odd, but if Ferguson is balking at paying £32m for Tevez he is correct to do so because that is an exorbitant amount for this particular player. If Ferguson has £32m to spend, he is well within his rights to see if he can do better with it than Tevez.

And this little spat should take none of the gloss off a day, and a season, that has brought deserved rewards for United and Ferguson.

It has been a season when Rooney and Michael Carrick have matured in a manner that will be mutually beneficial for United and England, while Ryan Giggs rolled back the years to show why he fully deserves his place in the pantheon of Old Trafford greats.

United have also shown resilience to respond to a minor stumble when they were heavily beaten by Liverpool and lost at Fulham - delivering drama along the way with Federico Macheda’s crucial winners against Aston Villa and Sunderland.

They also had the huge stroke of good fortune champions need along the way when referee Howard Webb gift-wrapped them a lifeline with a rotten penalty decision that put them on the path to victory on a pivotal day against Spurs.

United even survived the infamous “Rafa Rant” - which was not actually a rant at all but delivered with some precision - by turning the outburst into something which appeared to focus their minds wonderfully.

If Benitez regrets the timing of his attack it is unlikely he will admit it, but it did not have a positive effect on Liverpool’s attempt to win the title and he was reminded of this to deafening effect on countless occasions once the fireworks went off at Old Trafford.

This was another glory day for the remarkable Ferguson, who was already setting his sights on new successes as he strode into the dressing room to congratulate his players.

He knows it can get better for United - and with Ferguson showing no sign of either mellowing or becoming less successful with age, it almost certainly will.

The march on Rome began in the immediate aftermath of this silver-lined day and Ferguson will want to leave a record-breaking 19th title as part of his Old Trafford legacy.