Ferguson has revealed that he is set to recruit a big name in the off-season as he looks to bolster his squad for another charge at the Premier League title.

Bale and Lewandowski are just two of the names that Ferguson is set to chase, while a shock return to Old Trafford for Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Ferguson praised his club's owners, the Glazer family, and said they are more than likely to support him if he requests a high-profile player.

"Everything is in place for a big signing. I think that the Glazers have been great," Ferguson is quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.

"Whenever I have asked, they have delivered. If I ask to go for a certain player, I think they will do that. When I spoke about value in the market a while back, I was talking about young, developing players.

"Maybe there has been a wind of change and I could go for a really top player now. We have a nucleus of young players here, but we may spend something.

"When it's a top player, it doesn't matter what position they play in. I will bring them in if they add to the team.

"Last season we had (Javier) Hernandez, (Danny) Welbeck and (Wayne) Rooney and we still went out and bought Robin van Persie."

Ferguson also said that signing old players was not likely, with last season's capture of the 29-year-old Van Persie being the exception, given his quality.

"Van Persie's age was certainly an issue because it has not always worked when we have bought older players," he said.

"David Gill said to me after we bought Dimitar Berbatov (from Tottenham for £30m) that we had to be careful when signing older players, but Van Persie was different.

"He was phenomenal for Arsenal last season and so I was confident it would work."

Earlier this week Ferguson said he would look at 'one or two bodies to come in' and his comments are sure to strike fear into the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea, who know they will have to also be busy players in the transfer market if they are to wrestle control of the Premier League away from United.

The Manchester United boss also said he is planning on staying at the club for the foreseeable future.

"Whether I will be here to oversee another decade of success remains to be seen, but I certainly don't have any plans at the moment to walk away from what I believe will be something special and worth being around to see," he told United Review.