By Bob Cass

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Sir Alex Ferguson will not be buying Theo Walcott - or anybody else in January. 

The Manchester United manager, who saw his team maintain their six-point lead over neighbours Manchester City with a 3-1 win over Sunderland on Saturday, is adamant he will not be doing any business in the transfer window unless it is to allow several of his reserve-team players to go out on loan.

Out of the running: Manchester United will not join the bidding if Arsenal decide to cash in on Theo Walcott

Out of the running: Manchester United will not join the bidding if Arsenal decide to cash in on Theo Walcott

Ferguson, who rarely takes advantage of the mid-season opportunity to augment his first-team squad, believes he has enough resources to cope with challenging for the Premier League title and the European and FA Cups.

'I will not be bringing anybody in, in January - definitely not,' he confirmed.

It means that while title rivals City are targeting Atletic Bilbao's Fernano Llorente; Chelsea are ready to splash on Atletico Madrid's Radamel Falcao and Walcott and Liverpool want Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge and Tom Ince from Blackpool, the United boss will stick with what he has as the club chase a 20th league title.

Boost: Vidic returned against Sunderland

Boost: Vidic returned against Sunderland

Walcott's future at Arsenal is in doubt with the club refusing to agree to his contract demands. But if the Gunners decide to cash in on the winger in January, he is now more likely to end up at Stamford Bridge than Old Trafford.

Ferguson's confidence comes from now having a fully fit squad at his disposal after skipper Nemanja Vidic returned to the team as a second-half substitute against Sunderland.

'It will take him a bit of time but that is a start,' Ferguson said. 'He is a warrior and he is our captain. He always battles for you and sticks his head on that ball in the penalty area. That is what he is great at.'

Goals from Robin van Persie, Tom Cleverley and Wayne Rooney were enough to claim all three points and Ferguson added: 'People keep saying we are weak in midfield but these guys are very good players.'

The comments below have not been moderated.

RE kilam50 , Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The man is a monster. I used to think big Michael Essien was a midfield powerhouse until I saw him bounce off the lad. We need Lesley Vainikolo. On a serious note though, IF we can somehow engineer a transfer that involves Nani going the other way with minimal exchange of money, I wouldn't mind the transfer. I think Nani's the most naturally talented of our wingers but he just can't apply it and has maybe gone stale at OT. I'd still rather see us go for Zaha instead, but then again I'm not exactly a scout...

OMG ... WHO wud wanna WASTE any money on useless Theo Walcott ... the most under achieving player @ Arsenal + in BPL ... WILSHERE that I cud understand ... for 5 years or more,Arsene Wenger has allowed the PETULANT Walcott, a PATHETIC PRETENDER to b the NEXT MESSIAH of English football ... Theo cant even command a REGULAR place in Arsenal 1st team SQUAD due to inconsistency or mostly injuries ... OBVIOUSLY aint hardy like Paul Scoles who I cant RECALL havin as many injuries in 20years in BPL that THEO has in a single season ...

with vidic and kagawa coming back, they will have a brilliant squad! - ivana tinkle , islington, 16/12/2012 00:27 Yes Man United has a brilliant squad. But may I ask what is United's answer to that marauding grizzly of Man City? This player is a beast and the heart beat of the Citizens. Stop this grizzly and Man City is lost !

Theo's power-play could come back to haunt him. He could end up alongside Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson at that mediocre football club up the East Lancs. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

Who needs the January transfer window, when we pretty much have two excellent signings this week: the return of Vidic to action, and Kagawa to training! Without them, we topped our CL group, and are topping the league. With them? Everyone else should be shaking in their boots.

Well obviously we were not going to buy theo! I mean we are not chavski or the Bertie's who buy everyone in shorts!

There is no money left to buy anyone, the debt has spiralled out of control. - Louis, London, 12/15/12, 23:31 The fact that united's debt is going down each year begs to differ, along with united continued profits every year - mattho13, Manchester, 16/12/2012 01:36 Come on Chelsea did make a WHOLE million pound profit oh no that didn't include the transfers of hazard Oscar and Moses so nope no profit .... Small club with petty fans

There is no money left to buy anyone, the debt has spiralled out of control. - Louis, London, 12/15/12, 23:31 The fact that united's debt is going down each year begs to differ, along with united continued profits every year

There is no money left to buy anyone, the debt has spiralled out of control. - Louis , London, ------------ Van Persie > Torres........

There is no money left to buy anyone, the debt has spiralled out of control. - Louis, London, 15/12/2012 23:31>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> United are a richer club than Chelsea!

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