THE Glazer family, owners of Manchester United, might be sufficiently concerned about their investment to have appointed a new “chief of staff” to work alongside the Old Trafford board, but Sir Alex Ferguson is not. The United manager risked the wrath of supporters for the second time in 24 hours yesterday with another declaration of support for the American owners, making light of the enormous debt that the club have taken on as a result of the takeover.

Ferguson was criticised by the Manchester United Supporters Trust on Thursday after praising the Glazers for helping to finance the signings of Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra in the past week, but the Scot maintained yesterday that he had “no regrets” about his utterances.

Asked if he was worried by the £374 million debt taken on as a result of the takeover, Ferguson replied: “Why should I worry? Christ!”

The Glazers have hinted at a refinancing deal by appointing Ed Woodward, a former investment banker, to work with the board, as revealed in The Times yesterday, but Ferguson is unconcerned about the move.

“I look at my perspective,” he said. “They’ve supported me 100 per cent, they’ve given me the money I wanted for the January window, so what do I say? Tell lies?

“I’ve got no problems with it. It’s much better than when we were a plc. Then, you had to go through all the procedures of football club board, then the plc board, then inform the Stock Exchange and all this nonsense. Now it’s much more straightforward. If we see a player we want, we can get him much quicker. You can get an answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. With the plc, it was a long procedure.”

Ferguson has tried to allay fears that Wayne Rooney could suffer from burnout by the time the World Cup finals begin in Germany in June after appearing for all but 55 minutes of United’s Premiership campaign to date.

The England forward will make his 20th appearance today in the past 77 days, during which he has sat out only a Carling Cup tie against West Bromwich Albion. But Ferguson claims that Rooney can handle the workload because of, rather than despite, his youth.

“Wayne’s young, he’s only 20,” Ferguson said. “He’s a fit lad. When you’re that young, you feel like you can do anything. Whether Wayne playing an extra game or two would tell that much, I don’t know.”