"When you lose a player like Roy Keane, which was always going to happen as he was getting older, you have to find a replacement for him."
"It is something I have been looking at for a long time. We have Paul Scholes back after that unfortunate, unusual eye injury and he is back to his best form.
"We also have the quality and experience of Ryan Giggs so it can't be that bad.
"We have youthfulness in John O'Shea — who did a great job for us last year in that position — and Darren Fletcher, so we have some alternatives in there.
"We are trying to sign a couple of players who would add to the variety of our play. They are different types of players to the ones we have. That would only strengthen us.
"Fans want to see new signings and a new face which makes a difference to our play and bring more success.
"We are trying to sign a couple of players who would add variety to our play. They are different types of players to the ones we have and that would only strengthen us.
"But, at the end of the day, we will not be stupid. I am quite adamant about that.
"The bid for Michael Carrick was an attempt to do some fundamental business before the World Cup.
"But Tottenham turned it down and said they are looking at something approaching double what we offered.
"In that situation, I can understand them wanting to play the long game. But we have put a value on Michael and we will not go above that."
On Ronaldo:
"Ronaldo will return to Manchester United. We are not in the process of letting our best players go, certainly not our young players.
"There is no rift between Wayne and Cristiano. In fact Wayne has been fantastic throughout all of this, he has handled the whole thing very well.
"I know Wayne has been in touch with Cristiano and I don't anticipate any problems."
More:
"It's unfortunate that, as the years go on, the players you grow attached to grow older. It is a sad fact of life.
"It isn't a case of me being brutal, it just happens. Denis Irwin got to a certain age, Roy Keane, Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister retired, Bryan Robson became a manager.
"In our present squad we have Ryan Giggs who is now getting to 33 — hopefully he can play for us for two or three years because he is such a fit lad.
"But we know that, at some point, he will come to the end. It happens.
"Because I have been with this club for so long I have had to deal with that situation with many, many players.
"It maybe gives a false impression of me being ruthless or having to make crucial decisions.
"It is nothing like that. Most of the time it is just common sense — players come to the end of their careers and it just happens."