Sir Alex Ferguson has identified Louis Saha as a potential match-winner in the Champions League final against Chelsea on Wednesday, but the forward fears that the game in Moscow will be his last for Manchester United, having conceded that his persistent injury problems may force the manager to offload him this summer.

Saha has started only seven Premier League matches since January 2007 because of a series of knee and hamstring injuries and is considered vulnerable at Old Trafford, with Ferguson looking to increase his attacking options this summer. The United manager has the greatest admiration for the France forward as a player and intends to name him among his substitutes against Chelsea in Moscow, but he has been dismayed by the 29-year-old’s struggle to return to full fitness, with concerns about his mental strength as well as his injury problems.

United plan to sign a new centre forward this summer and retain an interest in Karim Benzema, of Lyons, as well as Dimitar Berbatov, of Tottenham Hotspur, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, of Ajax, and Luís Fabiano, of Seville, with Ferguson looking for a powerful player to complement the skills of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tévez. With the club also having high hopes for Danny Welbeck, 17, it appears inevitable that Saha will be asked to make way after a frustrating time over the past 18 months.

“The future is not in my hands,” Saha said. “I know it could be my last game and I would understand if the manager went for another striker. The main thing is to win the Champions League and maybe that will change things. This year I felt like I had a point to prove, but my fitness let me down and it has been hard to adjust.”

Saha’s air of resignation extends to his international career because he suggested that it was “unlikely” he would be in the France squad for next month’s European Championship finals, but he maintains that he will be in the right frame of mind for United in Moscow, saying that he hopes to come off the bench to score the winning goal, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did in the 1999 Champions League final. “That would be unbelievable,” Saha said. “It would be the perfect way to end the season.”

One player who is more hopeful of securing a long-term future at Old Trafford is Tévez. The Argentina forward was signed last summer on a two-year lease arrangement and Ferguson is eager for the United board to open negotiations with Media Sports Investment and Just Sports Inc, the companies that own his economic rights. Having paid a fee in the region of £10 million to loan the forward for two years, it is understood that United will have to pay a further £15 million to buy out his contract.

“I would certainly love to extend my contract,” Tévez said. “I would go and sign right now if the opportunity was there. Everyone has treated me well and made me feel at home. The fans even chant ‘Argentina’. That is why I am so happy here."

Manchester United will wait until August to hold a victory parade if they beat Chelsea in the Champions League final next week. After the violence that accompanied the Uefa Cup final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester on Wednesday, city councillors do not want more fans on the streets. No date has been set, but the club view Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s testimonial against Espanyol on August 2 as the most suitable date.