The better question is: is Fergie smart or is he just being frugal regardless of the interest of the club?To be fair it was more along the lines of Govan, shipbuilding and socialist Labour.
He balked at paying an extra £5 million for Benzema because he though it was too much. That's the moment I decided he couldn't come to terms with the modern market.
He's the man who can dictate what the market price is. Not the other way round. It's a myth your so called modern market because what is the value of the player to his team is more important than your so called market price. Fergie is a visionary and it's disrespectful to judge him as not coming to terms with modern market. Nothing he had overlooked because of price had cost the club. If he's not spending an asking price of a particular player, it's because he did not see the player is worthy of signing with the asking price. He's smart you know that?