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Sir Alex Ferguson admits Manchester United needed a "big injection" of talent this summer and praised Louis van Gaal for the six "quality" signings he made. United spent 153 million pounds -- the most ever paid by an English club in a transfer window -- to bring in Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind. And their most successful manager believes the Dutchman had to overhaul the squad -- which largely consisted of Ferguson's own signings, some of whom were sold or loaned out as Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck, Shinji Kagawa, Tom Cleverley, Alexander Buttner , Wilfried Zaha and Nani were among those Van Gaal allowed to leave. The Scot never spent more than 62 million pounds in a single transfer window during his 26-year reign at Old Trafford, which ended with his retirement in 2013. In contrast, Di Maria cost a British record fee of 59.7 million pounds when he joined from Real Madrid, and Ferguson told MUTV: "I think when you can identify ability like that needed by Manchester United, they have the resources to do that [deal]. They are fees I never quite equalled but nonetheless they were needing quite a big injection this year. "They brought in some good quality. It was really important as you need quality at Manchester United, you need the best players. It's the rebuilding of the team." Ferguson said left-back Shaw was a target of his three years ago, while midfielder Herrera is a player United first tried to sign during David Moyes' reign. "The signing of Shaw was the one we tried to get when he was 16 years of age," he continued. "They [Southampton] wouldn't sell him to us but they always said we'd be first to know if they ever did. Of course, Ed Woodward carried that through and got him, I think for 30 million pounds [actually 27 million pounds]. He's a talented boy, a good footballer who likes to get forward all the time. "Herrera played against us three years ago for [Athletic] Bilbao in the Europa League. In fairness, they gave us a right battering at Old Trafford. He's a talented young player and we scouted him quite a lot at that time. Obviously they tried to get him last year but it fell through for some reason or another. He's athletic, quite aggressive actually for a lad who has not a got a great frame as he's quite slim but he gets around the pitch. "Rojo, the Argentinian boy, I watched him at the World Cup, I thought he did really well for them and I think he's capable of playing either left side as a wing-back if you like or as a centre-back." Ferguson compared Netherlands international Blind to current vice-captain Darren Fletcher and thinks the former Ajax player has a fine footballing brain. Falcao, who suffered a cruciate ligament injury in January, has scored once in four games for United and Ferguson believes United were correct not to pay 50 million pounds to sign him on a permanent deal just yet. "Daley Blind is one of those common-sense footballers who make up a team," he added. "He's probably a version of Darren Fletcher of a few years ago, that type of player. He's a good professional with common sense to his game. He keeps it simple and protects the defenders and the attacking midfielders in his role. "The big one is Falcao who we're all waiting to see. Obviously, he has fantastic goalscoring ability. He had his injury so getting him on loan is the right thing to do."
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