SIR ALEX FERGUSON MAY HAVE worries about the fitness of a number of senior players — notably Wayne Rooney — before the opening game of the season against Fulham on Sunday, but of more immediate concern to the Manchester United manager is the desire to make at least one more addition to his squad.

Further talks have been scheduled with Villarreal today regarding Marcos Senna, the Spain midfield player, the outcome of which is likely to determine whether or not Ferguson moves for Owen Hargreaves, of Bayern Munich, or even Mahamadou Diarra, of Lyons.

The odds would appear to favour Senna moving to Old Trafford — probably for about £4 million. Any bid for Hargreaves would be resisted by Bayern and complicate United’s plans to sign another striker, although Ferguson will have been buoyed by the England midfield player’s claims yesterday to wish to play in the Barclays Premiership. “It would be a great opportunity to play in England,” Hargreaves, 25, said. “A lot of my family live in England and Wales and would appreciate it if I was there. It would seem a natural progression.”

Bayern value Hargreaves at about £15 million, but having sold Michael Ballack to Chelsea this summer, the German club are thought to oppose selling another of their prized assets. Hargreaves underlined his talent during a 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Friday, when he thrived in the attacking midfield role vacated by Ballack.

The one problem for Ferguson is that any move for Hargreaves — or a holding midfield player of similar quality and age — would leave him without sufficient funds with which to find a high-calibre replacement for Ruud van Nistelrooy. Fernando Torres, the Atlético Madrid and Spain forward, is the preferred choice, while rumours abound that a bid could be made for Carlos Tévez, the Argentina striker who plays for Corinthians.

Ferguson, meanwhile, is hoping that Rooney will have recovered from a groin strain in time to spearhead United’s attack against Fulham at Old Trafford. The manager also has fitness concerns over Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Alan Smith and Nemanja Vidic, while Michael Carrick is definitely out.