Kenyon shares Keane's United appraisal

Chief executive Peter Kenyon has backed Roy Keane's claim that Manchester United go into the new season with their strongest squad for a decade. Keane claimed on Thursday that competition for places at Old Trafford is greater than he has ever known, despite the high-profile departures of David Beckham and Juan Sebastian Veron this summer.

Alex Ferguson has brought in five new players to compensate, including £12.24million teenager Cristiano Ronaldo, and is still on the look-out for another defender to complete his jigsaw. And Kenyon believes his manager has got the mix just right, to ensure United have the best chance of defending their Premiership title this term, as well as making a greater impact in Europe.

"Roy Keane said he thinks it is the strongest squad we have ever had and I have to say, the mood around the camp is as good as it has ever been," Kenyon told BBC Radio 5 Live. "There is a lot of expectation and excitement and I think Manchester United will be there or thereabouts again. We start the season wanting to achieve more than we did last season and that is retaining the Premier League, which is our most important competition. But there is no secret that we want to go further in Europe and that is what the whole summer has been about."

Ferguson, whose side open the defence of their championship against Bolton at Old Trafford today, took his summer spending to over £25million with the midweek purchases of Ronaldo and Brazilian World Cup winner Kleberson, although that figure pales in comparison with the £74million spent by Chelsea. Kenyon acknowledges such heavy investment should see the Stamford Bridge outfit launch a concerted championship bid.

However, he claimed money alone will not guarantee the Londoners success. He said: "Chelsea are going to be a contender and a team you have to watch. But I don't think you can just buy the title. If you could you would have seen a lot more teams do it. There has to be more to it than that. The is a correlation between how much money you have and ultimate success but at United we have brought through some good, young talent and then bought in some more. Then you have to be able to blend it into a winning team. That is the factor you can't bottle and sell on."

Filed by Shane Murray