STEWART TO STAY IN ENGLAND

SAF told Stewart that he can leave Old Trafford during the summer for first-team football. But his agent says Rangers have shown no interest in him.

So it looks like it's the first division.

Stewart's agent George Wright claims, "There are two or three clubs expressing an interest,"

"He can only go on loan to the First Division in England and not the Premiership.

"Mr Ferguson has stipulated that he is only going on loan, but the problem Michael has got is that he is in the same position he has been in for some years.

"As a young lad he achieved a lot quickly. But he's trying to get into the strongest team in the world.

"You've got Roy Keane, Juan Sebastian Veron, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and now Eric Djemba-Djemba in the middle of the park and you can't see him going above them at this moment in time.

"The targets are so high at Manchester United. You can't just beat Charlton - you've got to win the Champions League.

"As far as Michael's concerned he would be a star in the Scottish Premier League - but it wouldn't tell Alex Ferguson any more about the boy because he needs to be playing at a higher level to see if he is going to be good enough to go into the Manchester United side.

"They are putting him out for a year on loan because the reserve team at Old Trafford is no good for him any more.

"Burnley is on his doorstep and manager Stan Ternent has also said he is keen to take him. He could have gone last year but he was cup-tied so they wouldn't have got him for that FA Cup run.

"He has said he is going to come back and get him for next season, but we want to see all our options.''