Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has no qualms comparing his current crop with the Beckham generation.

Ferguson is excited by the young players he's introduced this season.

He said: "The important thing is to leave a nucleus of young players who will be around for a long time.

"When you are building a team you don't want one that will only last a year. You want one to last five or six years so they get a consistent nature about them, so have a better understanding and become friends together. That has been what we are trying to achieve here.

"We knew Welbeck and Tom Cleverley were going to be fantastic players. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were in the Under-21s together. They have learned together and that has been a really big part of the modern Manchester United.

"I have a nucleus of players at the 20-21 mark who can be regarded in the same way as the Giggs-Scholes-Beckham era."