FERGIE'S fledglings are presently the pride of Old Trafford, but one former England defender fears that the proposed takeover could prove extremely bad news for Paul Scholes, the Neville brothers, Nicky Butt et al.
Roy McFarland, now managing Third Division Cambridge United, believes that Mancunian younsters who have traditionally been identified and then polished by United's famed youth policy may no longer prosper there.
"At the moment Alex (Ferguson) has about eight products of his youth team in the squad, but within a few years there will probably be only one or two homegrown players in the team. It will be evolution rather than revolution, but when you are given that sort of money you have to win and the parameters change.
"Within five to 10 years United's team will be filled with top foreign players and they may start asking, 'Do we really need a youth policy'?"
Newcastle's England midfielder Rob Lee is also wary of the effect the takeover could have on football as a whole. He said: "I think this could be very good for Manchester United but sad for the game as a whole.
"Surely the whole idea of the Premiership, of football really, is that nobody really knows which team is going to beat another. That, on a given day, anyone can beat anyone else. But Sky have pioneered a lot of good things. They've really brought football back from the dead. Look how crowds have risen since they started covering the Premiership."
Lennie Lawrence, manager of Luton Town, believes opposition to the Sky takeover is not as widespread as many claim. He said: "At this level we won't be affected by the takeover - the gulf between the Premiership and the rest is already vast. The only people who share the concerns and worries of dyed-in-the-wool Manchester United fans are non-Murdoch media people." And Fergie's Fledglings.
