At the unveiling of Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell, Sir Alex Ferguson has discussed what he believes their best position to be. Fergie admits he asked Dario Gradi, Crewe Alexandra director of football, for advice on where Powell was best suited to play.

“I asked Dario if Nick could be a central midfielder,” he said. “Dario thinks that’s his position and Nick does too so we’re all in accord. We hope he’ll be a central midfield player and that’s where we’ll develop him.”

As for Kagawa’s role, the boss said: “He’ll play further forward [than Powell]. We shouldn’t be looking at one player changing the way we play but he could make a difference. He can give us that extra in the final third of the field. If his goalscoring record continues he could be a very good player for us. Shinji’s coming to South Africa with us and then to China so I think you’ll be seeing him pretty soon, Once he’s adapted and gets to know some football phrases our players will use, he’ll be used to that. He can start the first league game quite easily. I’ve got no problem with that. I think in Nick’s case, he’s got a bit of physical development to do, just as we would expect of an 18 year-old. But he’ll be in the first-team squad and train with us every day.”