After the recent media speculation surrounding Manchester United’s possible transfer targets for the Summer, Alex Ferguson has comfirmed that the Reds will, indeed, be signing a forward. Ferguson said, “We will buy. Along with Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney, we may need experience in one forward position, somebody to take over from Ryan Giggs eventually.”

This statement confirms what many already suspected, and will come as pleasing to United fans, who feel that one of the few weaknesses within the side is the lack of a centre-forward; it has become apparent that the seemingly temperamental Louis Saha needs to be replaced with a stronger signing.

Klass-Jan Huntelaar (Ajax), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham) and Michael Owen (Newcastle) have all been amongst the speculation, but the player being increasingly mentioned is Seville’s Luis Fabiano. The 27-year old Brazilian has an impressive 34 goals to his name this season, in just 44 appearances for his club. He also topped the La Liga top scorer list this season with 18 goals, beating Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o and United’s former goal-machine Ruud van Nistelrooy.

United have been scouting Fabiano extensively over the last few weeks, and reported back to Ferguson with their findings. Whether or not United make a move appears to rest heavily on whether or not they can agree a reasonable deal for the player; Fabiano and his representatives remain convinced that he can bought for a sum in the region of £8.6 million – which certainly sounds very reasonable – but his club, Seville, claim that he is valued at a staggering £48.6 million, as it is put in his contract. It would certainly appear that the latter sum would be out of the question for the striker, though the former is probably a more realistic sum.

Other interests include Huntelaar, who has bagged an impressive 60 goals in 74 appearances at Ajax’s Amsterdam ArenA. He also has an impressive European record, with 9 goals in 9 appearances (Champions League and UEFA Cup). The 24-year old is valued at around £13 million, and some reports indicate Ferguson may make a bid of around £16 million.

Dimitar Bervatov is another possiblity, thought Ferguson is – rightly -concerned about the Bulgarian’s sometimes lazy approach, and ability to perform against top-class opponents. Many believe the Bulgarian is not right for the youthful and hungry United.

Kasim Benzema is another top class striker, though he has recenty claimed he is staying put at Lyon. Finally, Michael Owen is, perhaps, a somewhat surprising target and would surely not be the preferred choice for Ferguson, if he is a target at all.

With Ferguson being assured that he will have the finance to strengthen his squad even more this Summer, the second priority is a right-back defender; though Wes Brown has significantly improved his game and performed well for United this season, Gary Neville’s future remains up in the air – he did not make a single league appearance this season – and Gerard Pique looks to be heading to Barcelona.

The two key targets for this position look to be Bayern Munich’s Philipp Lahm and Micah Richards of rivals Manchester City. Whether Man City would let the 19-year old make a move across Manchester to their bitter rivals is a different question entirely. The highly-rated Daniel Alves, from Fabiano’s Seville, has also been linked, though his price-tag is most probably too high to be United’s top choice.

Other interests include Wigan’s Wilson Palacios and Luis Antonio Valencia, and Sporting Lisbon’s Miguel Veloso.

The thought of some of these world-class

So who will we see in United shirts at Old Trafford next year?