ALWAYS ONE STEP BEHIND

Sir Alex Ferguson's hopes of signing players from Juventus as a result of the Italian match-fixing scandal diminished yesterday with the news that AC Milan, the club owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, are the team likely to benefit from the exodus of players from the former Italian champions.

The United manager, who yesterday saw his team open their South African tour with a 4-0 victory over Orlando Pirates, said afterwards: "The situation with the clubs in Italy is something we are addressing at the moment. It's not exactly clear at this stage what the circumstances are with the clubs that have been relegated.''

But many of Juventus's Italian players, who would prefer to stay in their own country, are now hoping to join AC Milan (who were docked 15 points but not relegated) because they still have a chance of playing in next season's UEFA Cup.

Meanwhile, midfielders Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo have reassured AC Milan fans, promising loyalty to the club who launched them. This means that Gattuso will not join Manchester United, disappointing Ferguson, who is still desperately seeks a replacement for midfielder Roy Keane. So Ferguson may turn his attention to Juventus's Patrick Vieira, the former Arsenal midfielder who has made it clear that he will definitely be leaving Juventus. Vieira has so far not ruled out a return to the Premiership.

Meanwhile, Fiorentina are facing the possibility of losing last season's Serie A Golden Boot winner, Luca Toni. Again Manchester United were reported to be interested in the striker to replace Ruud van Nistelrooy but Toni appears to be heading to Milan's other club Internazionale.