'I won't get stupid with Ronnie cash'.

SIR ALEX FERGUSON insists he will not be "stupid" with the pounds 80m windfall he received for the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Some Manchester United fans are bound to be alarmed and disappointed in equal measure that Ferguson has declared his summer transfer business over, even though he has only signed three players, the most notable being Michael Owen on a free transfer.

The Glazer family have already insisted Ferguson will get whatever cash he feels is required to strengthen a squad that next season will bid for an unprecedented fourth straight league title, as well as a place in the Champions League final for the third year in a row.

Ferguson did little to counter that stance, hinting that the decision not to invest the type of huge sums that have been spent by Real Madrid come from his own desire not to waste money in a massively inflated transfer market.

"I can only placate the fans this way and say I am not going to be stupid," he said.

"We have got that wonderful sum of money from Real Madrid but there was no way we were going to throw it away and put an extra nought on the end of the transfer which I didn't think was value."

Lyon striker Karim Benzema was a case in point. With Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez both heading for the exit door, Benzema was top of Ferguson's wish-list. Then Real Madrid made their move, taking the fee way beyond pounds 30m.

"People have to try and put their own value on players," said Ferguson. "Lyon may think we under-valued him and that is fine but they have done well to get 32m euros."

Ferguson concedes that events at Manchester City and Madrid have changed football's landscape considerably.

"I said that a year ago after the takeover at City that they could affect the market," he said. "There is some indication that is the case. "Values throughout the world are amazing. Some of the numbers being tossed about are sky high."