SOCCER:MANCHESTER UNITED chief executive, David Gill, said last night he was "confident" that the club's beleaguered American owners, the Glazer family, retained the support of manager Alex Ferguson, who has won 26 trophies in 24 years at Old Trafford.

“We have regular meetings, we talk about the team, development of the players, what the targets are,” Gill told the Soccerex conference in Manchester.

“Alex is very comfortable with it. He would not be shy in saying he wasn’t comfortable and we need to buy a player. We are a successful team and the way it’s moved on since Cristiano left after six very successful years with us demonstrated why he’s comfortable with what he’s got.”

Gill said that the proceeds of the £81 million sale of Ronaldo to Real Madrid have been ringfenced for squad strengthening. He also said that the club’s £709m debt was serviceable and that it was only because of Ferguson’s thrift that the funds for player recruitment have not been spent.

Asked if there was still money for United to maintain their recent primacy in the Premier League, Gill said: “Without doubt.” He said: “We’re looking at players all the time. The money from Ronaldo is in the bank account, let’s be clear on that.

“Alex has been very clear, he’s not going to go out and pay for a player just because everyone else thinks we should do that. He’s a Scot, he wants value for money. He’s not going to waste it.”

Gill said the £10 million purchase of the central defender Chris Smalling, who will join United from Fulham in the summer, was evidence of continued investment in the playing squad.

“The owners understand that you have to invest in the product if you want to be successful and they will support that investment,” he said.

“When we bought Nani and Anderson three years ago we spent a lot of money in 24 hours. They know that’s required and they have the money to do that. Alex will not be shy in saying we need that money.”

Asked about the Red Knights City consortium that wants to buy out the Glazers, Gill said: “They have their views and they are sensible, intelligent people. But the structure we have in place today, we can live with it. Our financial results and our financial projections demonstrate that.”

However, Gill rounded on the figurehead of the Red Knights. Keith Harris, the former Football League chairman, whose Seymour Pierce stockbroker has been at the centre of several club takeovers, was dismissed by Gill as a publicity seeker. “Keith Harris will go anywhere there is publicity and we accept that; it’s his modus operandi,” said Gill. “But if you look at his track record in football it is nothing to write home about.”

Gill was referring to Harris’s recent attempts to find buyers for football clubs. He has not completed a takeover deal since putting Thaksin Shinawatra in control of United’s rival Manchester City almost three years ago. Even that was undone after 14 months when it became clear Thaksin’s conviction on charges of corruption meant he would fail the Premier League’s fit and proper persons test.

However, Gill’s attack on the man fronting the Red Knights shows Old Trafford is feeling the pressure from the group of wealthy bankers and the fans’ green-and-gold protests.

“It affects us,” he conceded.

Despite the hostility towards Harris, prompted by the latter’s call last month for supporters to boycott the club, Gill was complimentary about the other figures involved in the Red Knights group.

They include blue-chip corporate notables such as the former United director and Goldman Sachs chief economist, Jim O’Neill, and the club’s former legal adviser, the Freshfields partner Mark Rawlinson, who he described as “credible people”.

“They are not misguided,” said Gill. “They have their own views and they are sensible, intelligent people.”

United’s six-month figures to the year-end 2009 were released on Tuesday and reflected a much-improved picture on the previous year, with pre-tax earnings of £56.5 million (€62.2m), up from £36.5 million (€40.2m).

Gill insisted the Glazers would not relinquish control of the club. “The family aren’t sellers,” he said.