The champagne was flowing at Manchester United’s training ground yesterday as the club basked in the glory of a ninth Premiership title in 15 seasons, but Sir Alex Ferguson was plotting the assault on a tenth, with the club reopening formal negotiations with Bayern Munich over a deal to sign Owen Hargreaves.

There were indications from within Old Trafford that the long-awaited deal for the England midfield player may be in jeopardy because of Bayern’s demand for a £21 million transfer fee, but sources indicated last night that negotiations were progressing between David Gill, the United chief executive, and his opposite number in Munich, with Ferguson hoping that a deal in the region of £19 million can be struck before the end of the season.

There are other defensive midfield players whom Ferguson admires, such as Daniele De Rossi, of AS Roma, but Hargreaves is expected to be the first of the “two or three” new signings the United manager referred to yesterday. The others are probably a top-class centre forward, because of Ferguson’s growing distrust of Louis Saha, and a left back, with either Gabriel Heinze or Mikaël Silvestre likely to depart, although there may also be cause to sign a left winger, such as Nani, Sporting Lisbon’s latest prodigy, as a long-term replacement for Ryan Giggs.

Asked whether he felt that his team were ready to reassert their dominance of English football over the next five years, Ferguson said: “It is a long period, dominating for five years. I don’t think we have an easy task, but I do think that this team will get better and if they stay together it will give them a real chance. I expect Arsenal and Liverpool to add to their squad and certainly Chelsea to add to theirs.

“We have three, maybe two, targets. The owners are aware of that, David [Gill] is aware of that. There is competition for the best players and, if there is competition, they cost. Chelsea paid £27 million for Michael Essien. They can outbid us all.”

That is not likely to be a problem with regard to Hargreaves, whose heart has been set on a move to Old Trafford since last August, when he informally agreed a five-year contract.

Less straightforward may be Ferguson’s pursuit of a centre forward if he chooses to sell Saha, with Dimitar Berbatov, of Tottenham Hotspur, known to be among those under consideration. The United manager also has a long-held admiration for Fernando Torres, of Atlético Madrid, David Villa, of Valencia, and Michael Owen, who could be enticed from Newcastle United for a relatively small fee, while Carlos Tévez, the West Ham United forward, is another who could come into the manager’s reckoning.

Saha’s future with United appears problematic, particularly after Ferguson revealed that the France forward had again declared himself unfit before the derby victory over Manchester City on Saturday. It was the third time in recent weeks that Ferguson had included Saha in his squad, only for the player to say that it was too early to risk the hamstring injury that has restricted him to 26 minutes of action since March 3.

Saha may yet be involved in tomorrow’s match against Chelsea which, having been billed as a title-decider, may amount to little more than a reserve-game as both teams rest players for the FA Cup Final on May 19. Ferguson did indicate that he would field something approaching his strongest team against West Ham on Sunday, out of respect for the league, given the potential repercussions at the bottom of the table.