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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that Cristiano Ronaldo is irreplaceable - so he isn’t going to try. Instead he will place his faith in the young talent already at Old Trafford to fill the void.

“We knew we could never replace Ronaldo," said Ferguson. "When you’ve had someone who is the best at what he does, it is no good trying to find someone to do the same job.

“And when you know you can’t replace someone or something, you look for a different way. People have misread our situation and they have underestimated our ability to improve players. That is an area where we have proved successful in the past.”

United's young guns:

Danny Welbeck 18
Arguably the brightest prospect Manchester United have produced since the Beckham generation. Fast-tracked from the under-18s to the first team squad in less than a year, he scored on his league debut with a 20-yard strike against Stoke. Occasionally deployed out wide, the Manchester-born striker’s future lies in a more central role.

Frederico Macheda 17
A rangy, powerful yet skilful forward, the Italian was brought over from Lazio aged 16 and signed professional forms at United on his 17th birthday. Winning goals in consecutive Premier League matches at the end of last season from Macheda dug United out of a sticky patch of form and set the on their way to the title.

Rafael da Silva 19
The long term solution to the decline through age and injury of Gary Neville, Rafael has already put in plenty of first team performances to suggest the hype may need to be believed. Marauding up the flank, in the tradition of attacking Brazilian fullbacks, the youngster brings as much to the side going forward as he does defensively.

Fabio da Silva 19
Injury prevented the younger of the da Silva twins from making the same sort of impact Rafael did last year, but he has already shown glimpses that he may even be the better of the two. Lightning quick, skilful and surprisingly tough. Fabio, on the left, and Rafael, on the right, have been called Brazil’s answer to the Nevilles. With all due respect to Gary and Phil, they could be a lot better than that.

Jonny Evans 21
Established as United’s first reserve at centre-back behind Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, Evans has belied his tender years when called in to action, despite having big boots to fill. Calm, composed and an excellent reader of the game, he will see plenty of action while waiting for his time to step up to be an automatic first pick.

Davide Petrucci 17
Another Italian, this time an all-action midfielder in the mold of a slightly tougher Francesco Totti, brought to the club last summer from Roma after a bitter wrangle with the Serie A side. Caught the eye scoring 14 goals in 19 matches in youth football and a star for the Italian under-17 team, Petrucci is close friends with Macheda and Ferguson believes that will help the pair form a promising partnership on the field.

Nani 22
Arriving at United as a raw 20-year-old from Sporting Lisbon, Nani inevitably drew comparisons with Ronaldo. A wide player with pace to burn and an eye for the spectacular goal (and goal celebration) the first few months showed glimpses of his talent but last season was patchy at best and his task now is to home his talents, as Ronaldo did, in to more something productive and consistent.

Darron Gibson 21
Took his time to come up through the ranks with Manchester United but was publicly rewarded for his efforts with the reserves earlier this season when Ferguson announced he would start in the Carling Cup final against Tottenham. Having played every round of the tournament the midfielder also proved himself an established senior player after scoring goals against Southampton and Derby in the FA Cup.

Anderson 22
The Brazilian was horribly exposed in Manchester United’s Champions League final defeat to Barcelona but that one game should not disguise the steady [progress he has made since joining the club. A combative, tough tackling midfielder with bags of energy and the ability to pick a pass, he has even managed to get on the scoresheet in pre-season, something he has yet to do in 75 competitive appearances for United.