As far as the sale of Ronaldo to Real Madrid goes, Manchester United have been here before. Look back at the club’s history. George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham have departed United in some shape or form and the club has continued to thrive, and in certain cases, has gone on to bigger and better things.

A club as big as United is going to have big players and players move on. That’s a fact of football life.  Whatever the media might say no one player is irreplaceable. Or to put it another way nobody is bigger than the club.

Selling Ronaldo to Real Madrid is good business.  His comments in the past have intimated that he was not happy. There’s no point keeping a player in that state of mind as it will eventually start to affect those around him.

We move on. United have always changed and adapted and that process is underpinned by the knowledge and experience possessed by the coaches and the manager. There are young players at the club who have benefitted from that knowledge and experience. Now is the time for some of them who we have developed to see Ronaldo’s departure as an opportunity.

But for now it is business as usual. The players are on holiday and will be expected back something like four weeks before the season starts. They are weighed before they go and are expected to return in July with a certain percentage ratio of body fat to muscle. They are not given specific diets to follow but they are responsible enough to look after themselves. Apart from anything else they don’t want to make pre-season training any harder for themselves than it already is!

Since his experiences as Aberdeen manager, Sir Alex Ferguson has always been a great protector of young bodies and minds. He is a great believer that the mind needs as much rest as the body in the summer.  The body will almost take care of itself, but it is vitally important the players switch off mentally too.

Pre-season to pre-season doesn’t differ hugely. There maybe some changes if the club are going abroad for a pre-season tour. But it is always structured – there’s no long cross country runs like in the old days. We have a team of fitness specialists that ensure the team are brought up to the required fitness level in the right way.

Obviously the aim is for everybody to be fit for the start of the season. Sometimes, if a player has been on international duty, he will be given a little longer and may miss out on the Charity Shield as he is a little behind some of the others.

As for me I haven’t had a break yet. There’s still plenty of admin to do and I continue to coach too and ensure we are in the right position come August.

Like I said: business as usual.