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Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to break the bank to keep Manchester United at the summit of English football.

The Red Devils manager wants to build on ­reclaiming the Premier League title by making at least one stellar signing this summer.

Sunday Mirror Sport can reveal that ­Ferguson has identified a need to ­recruit a centre-back, a midfielder and a ­left-back – but he has assured ­United’s fans that the club’s - American owners will give him their full financial backing if he identifies a big-name signing.

United are monitoring Cristiano Ronaldo’s situation at Real Madrid, while the club are ready to test Tottenham’s resolve for Gareth Bale and Real Madrid’s Luka Modric are also attracting Ferguson’s attention.

Ferguson said: “Everything is in place for a big signing. I think that the Glazers have been great.

“Whenever I have asked, they have delivered.

“If I ask to go for a certain player, I think they will do that.

“When I spoke about value in the market a while back, I was talking about young, developing players.

(Image: AP)

“Maybe there has been a wind of change and I could go for a really top player now.

“We have a nucleus of young players here, but we may spend something.

“When it’s a top player, it doesn’t matter what position they play in. I will bring them in if they add to the team.

“Last season we had [Javier] Hernandez, [Danny] Welbeck and [Wayne] Rooney and we still went out and bought Robin van Persie.”

United’s consistency on the pitch has been matched by strong financial results off it. They have just announced a record third-quarter turnover of £91.7million and are expected to generate in excess of £350m for the year.

Vice-chairman Ed Woodward, the former investment banker who will replace David Gill as chief executive this summer, has ­insisted that there are no major recruitment plans.

But if Ferguson identifies a player who will make a difference, he expects to be backed with hard cash.

(Image: AFP)

Ferguson has been trailing Borussia Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski for the past year, although the Pole will now cost much more than the £25m suggested following his ­exploits in the Champions League.

Ferguson also retains an admiration for Modric after losing out to Real ­Madrid last year when the midfielder left Tottenham.

The support of Gill was unwavering last ­summer when Ferguson wanted Van Persie, even though buying a 29-year-old broke with the club’s ­stated transfer policy.

Ferguson said of the former Arsenal striker, who cost United £24m: “Van Persie’s age was ­certainly an issue ­because it has not always worked when we have bought older players.

“David Gill said to me after we bought Dimitar Berbatov [from Tottenham for £30m] that we had to be careful when signing older players, but Van Persie was ­different.

“He was phenomenal for Arsenal last season and so I was confident it would work.”

Meanwhile, Ferguson has few regrets – but failing to buy Frank Lampard still haunts the Manchester United manager.