It took five years and a trio of failed attempts, but yesterday Alex Ferguson got his man with the free transfer capture of Laurent Blanc from Internazionale.

Blanc (35), signed a one-year contract with Manchester United, effectively as a short-term replacement for Jaap Stam who was sold to Lazio for £15.25 million sterling on Monday. He will earn over £2 million sterling from his 10-month stint at Old Trafford.

"I think this is the fourth time we've been in to try and sign Laurent," said Ferguson. "We even tried last season, but it has always been the wrong time for him. The first time was back in 1996 when Laurent was still with Auxerre, then while he was at Barcelona and Internazionale. I've followed him around the world.

"People keep going on about his age, but I've had Steve Bruce at 35 and Bryan Robson at 36 playing important roles here. There's even a "young" midfield player (the 36-year-old Gary McAllister) at Liverpool who played I don't know how many games last season."

Despite qualifying three times for the Champions League - with Auxerre, Barcelona and Marseille - the defender has never played in the competition. The completion of his signing before tonight's midnight deadline means he is likely to rectify that when United visit Olympiakos on September 12th.

The champions' principal target, PSV Eindhoven's Kevin Hoflund, yesterday claimed he would not consider leaving the Dutch club for another two years.

Meanwhile, Liverpool's frantic attempt to complete the signing of Feyenoord's Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek will go right to the wire today as they await to receive international clearance for the player. A fee of £4.85 million has been agreed with the Rotterdam club, with the 28-year-old even waiving a £300,000 pay-off to move to Merseyside.

Liverpool officials remain hopeful of signing a second, as yet unnamed player before tonight's midnight deadline for Champions League registration.