Sir Alex Ferguson's back for Bastian Schweinsteiger

Posted Wednesday, July 06, 2011 by Dailystar.co.uk

Sir Alex Ferguson's back for Bastian Schweinsteiger
ABOVE: Sir Alex Ferguson will revive his interest in Bastian Schweinsteiger if he is outbid for Samir Nasri

SIR ALEX FERGUSON will revive his interest in Bastian Schweinsteiger if he is outbid for Samir Nasri and Wesley Sneijder by bitter rivals Manchester City.

Sir Alex Ferguson is a long-term admirer of German star Bastian Schweinsteiger and has targeted him to replace the retired Paul Scholes.

Fergie put Schweinsteiger on his wanted list six months ago, as revealed in Starsport, but was unable to lure him from Bayern Munich.

He has since turned his attentions to Nasri and Sneijder as he looks to strengthen his midfield following the loss of Scholes and crocked England star Owen Hargreaves.

Fergie has made Arsenal’s Nasri, 24, his No.1 choice and is hoping United chief executive David Gill can land him in a £22m deal.

But Carlos Tevez’s decision to leave City could see Roberto Mancini attempt to hijack Nasri’s move to Old Trafford.

Mancini is also keen on Holland and Inter Milan star Sneijder, 27, and knows he has the spending power to blow Fergie out of the water in the battle to land either player.

And there was just a hint that the former Real Madrid star could be on his way when new Inter boss Gian Piero Gasperini was unveiled yesterday.

Gasperini said: “There’s no doubt that Sneijder’s a great player but it’s hard to know what’s going to happen over the next 50 days.

“Inter want to become a better team, and two years ago the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic left the team even stronger than it was before.

“I’m not worried about the situation surrounding Wesley.”

Fergie is still hoping the lure of a move to Old Trafford will see him win the race to sign Nasri.

But he is not prepared to get involved in a bidding war with Mancini, having already splashed out more than £52m on Phil Jones, Ashley Young and David De Gea this summer.

Which means he could turn to Schweinsteiger, 26, in the hope of securing a £30m deal.

But Fergie would still face a tough task in persuading Bayern to sell Schweinsteiger to one of their main European rivals.

The German giants want to strengthen their squad after losing their Bundesliga crown to Borussia Dortmund last season.

Fergie could be willing to offer Dimitar Berbatov as a makeweight in a deal to bring Schweinsteiger to the Premier League – with Bayern keen on the Bulgarian.