FERGIE IN MILAN LAST NIGHT

Fergie was in Milan after stepping up his interest in Mahamadou Diarra, the Lyons midfield player who could prove to be the “new Roy Keane”. Along with Javier Mascherano, of Corinthians, Diarra has been identified by Ferguson as the leading candidate to fill the void left in the United midfield by Keane's departure.

The 24-year-old, who plays for Mali, has also attracted interest from Real Madrid and, more tentatively, Chelsea, but Ferguson hoped to steal a march on United's rivals by watching Diarra play against AC Milan in last night's Champions League quarter-final, second leg.

He will have been impressed with Diarra's persistence in heading in the goal that, for almost an hour, looked like sending Lyons into the semi-finals. But Milan scored twice in the last three minutes to secure a 3-1 aggregate win.

It is unlikely to have escaped Ferguson's notice that Diarra's agent, Frédéric Guerra, was also in Milan to watch the match, but whether or not their paths crossed, the main object of the exercise was to find out if, as members of the United scouting team have suggested, the player seems to have what it takes to succeed at Old Trafford.

Guerra recently described Diarra as “the best defensive midfielder in Europe”. Unfortunately for United, he will not come cheap, having been valued in excess of £20 million by Lyons.

Ferguson also plans to take the opportunity to travel to Brazil to watch Mascherano play for Corinthians in the coming weeks, illustrating his commitment to finding the right man to fill Keane's boots. Still two months short of his 22nd birthday, Mascherano would represent the less experienced of the two options, particularly in terms of European football, but Ferguson is enthused by the prospect of signing the young Argentinian, whom Chelsea have long believed they are in pole position to land after this summer's World Cup finals.