"I don't think we were looking to have a Roy Keane-type player, but certainly some of the qualities that Owen has are different to the ones we have at the moment.
"The question is always there about how do you replace great players? We said the same when Bryan Robson left and we got Paul Ince and then Roy Keane.
"Owen will bring speed in midfield and good energy, but what is really important is that he has European experience, which not a lot of our players have. His arrival, and that of Nani and Anderson, gives us a really strong squad next year. Maybe that was our downfall when we got into the final part of last season. We just didn't have enough in the squad to handle all the competitions we were in."