Youth Against Facism

The biggest story of the day is this, reported in The Independent:

Sir Alex Ferguson has agreed to a new Old Trafford transfer strategy under which no players aged 26 or over will be signed on major deals by Manchester United – a move which explains why Franck Ribéry and Kaka have not been on the club's radar this summer and why Lyons' Karim Benzema might be.
Ferguson and the United chief executive, David Gill, are understood to have reached an agreement with their club's owners, the Glazer family, that the poor resale value of players purchased on five-year deals in their late 20s militates in favour of buying younger. It means that the likes of last summer's £31m lay-out for the then 27-year-old Dimitar Berbatov will not occur again, in Ferguson's reign at least; that Carlos Tevez, now 25, represents the top end of the age scale; and that United are not interested in the 26-year-old Ribéry.

And The Guardian:

The same policy applies to David Villa, the outstanding Valencia striker who is on the market at the age of 27 for a fee of around £45m, as well as the man who scored the first goal against United in the Champions League final, Barcelona's 28-year-old forward Samuel Eto'o. Both are ruled out unless there is a rethink at Old Trafford.

United are aware that the policy may not go down well with those supporters who are expecting high-profile replacements to fill the void left by Ronaldo's impending world-record transfer to Real Madrid. However, the club insists it makes sound business sense not to bring in a player for £30m or more who cannot be sold for another high valuation some years after signing his contract.

It seems like quite a sensible policy, so I'm not sure why it wouldn't go down well with supporters. Haven't we always (on the whole) made stars, rather than bought them ready made?
Having said that, the problem is that any policy has exceptions, as The Guardian point out:

Berbatov was considered an exception to the rule when he signed for £30.75m but Ferguson is now working under the knowledge that his chief executive, David Gill, and the club's American owners, the Glazer family, expect him to pursue younger players who could conceivably make the club a profit.

Which is to say that buying a "superstar" would always be an exceptional circumstance anyway, so making an exception to the policy for one player means that the policy, which always seems to have been our policy anyway, doesn't mean that much.
In the same Independent report is news that Chelsea are on the same page as us regarding Tevez:

The west London club consider the £25.5m figure required to buy him excessive and are keener on pursuing Ribéry.

And all the talk of our new policy doesn't stop The Sun linking us with Ribery again, but saying Real will beat us and Chelsea to him.
Differing reports on Valencia today; The Mirror say:

Manchester United will complete the £16million capture of Antonio Valencia by the weekend - thwarting Liverpool hopes of exploiting a delay in the deal.

While The Telegraph say:

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has admitted he will leave Valencia to decide on his next destination, with Real and a second European club, understood to be Bayern, confirming their interest in the player earlier this week.

Whelan said: "Real Madrid have followed him [Valencia] big style all season, Manchester United have followed him big style and there is another club in Europe who have just come in for him. Real have been in contact with us since they moved for Ronaldo.

"If you say 'have we had a bid in black and white?' then no, we haven't. But fees have been spoken about. It all rests on this – who does the lad want to go to?

"United have a meeting with us in the next three or four days, Real Madrid have got a meeting with us in the next three or four days and the other team have also asked for a meeting.

"I don't expect it will be resolved for another 10 days or a fortnight, though, because Antonio has been away on holiday."

So there you go.
Sam Hewson gets an years extension to his contract:

The 20-year-old midfielder was loaned out to Hereford for three months last season, where despite netting three goals in 10 appearances, he was unable halt their drop to League Two.

However his performances for the Bulls impressed Sir Alex Ferguson, who believes Hewson can seriously push for a first-team squad place next term and has moved to lengthen the youngster’s contract, which has just 12 months remaining.

The fixture list comes out today for next season and a couple of papers link Sir Alex's name to it, as if we're the only team who ever complain about fixture congestion. The Star and The Telegraph are prime offenders.