THE LIAR STRIKES AGAIN!

A few short weeks ago, the Manchester United chief executive David Gill grew dreadfully indignant.

He was appalled, he said, at the sheer impertinence of the suggestion that Ruud van Nistelrooy might be anything other than deliriously happy at Old Trafford.

Then he went on to stress how important the Holland striker was to the future of the struggling club.

"If you are looking to improve your squad," Gill said haughtily, "you are not going to sell the goalscorer who can deliver 25 to 30 goals a season.

"Ruud is very much part of our plans and we are looking forward to him playing a part in what should be a successful season." Funny that. Funny strange, I mean. Not funny ha-ha.

Next time Gill decides to pour scorn on accurate stories in the press, he might care to remember that the truth has a habit of catching you out.

He might also care to choose his words rather more carefully. Because the thing is, he was absolutely spot on with his assessment of van Nistelrooy's importance to the club.

He was right: If United want to muster more of a challenge to Chelsea next season, the last person - after Wayne Rooney - that they should be selling is van Nistelrooy.

Selling him would be a huge step backwards and a massive blow to the club. Does Ferguson seriously expect anyone else to believe that the injury-prone Louis Saha is a better bet next season than a goal machine like van Nistelrooy.

If he does, then his judgement is waning faster than everybody thought.

And if I was David Gill, I would be getting very, very worried. The last time he allowed Fergie to dip his toe into the transfer market, he blew nearly £10million on two defenders.

Patrice Evra can't get in the team and Nemanja Vidic wouldn't get in the team at any of the other top four Premiership clubs.

Now Gill is going to have to sanction Fergie going in big for a top-class centre forward. Either that or they're expecting Giuseppe Rossi to step into van Nistelrooy's shoes.

If van Nistelrooy goes, suddenly United are looking at a summer where they have to recruit not only a world-class central midfielder but a world-class striker, too. For his sake, I hope Gill's got plenty more denials up his sleeves.

And I hope the Glazer family that Fergie loves so much have got awfully deep pockets to bale him out of this latest mess.