ROVERS boss Graeme Souness today revealed he came within a few hours of signing Manchester United hot-shot Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Ewood chief Souness had kept close tabs on the Dutch strike-ace long before Old Trafford boss Alex Ferguson had ever heard of him.

And he even boarded a plane bound for Holland with the intention of signing him for a knockdown £5 million only for the deal to be scuppered at the last minute by a cruel twist of fate.

"Van Nistelrooy was a player who was recommended to me and I went to see him a couple of times," said Souness, referring to his time as manager of Benfica.

"Then I took my president, who's now in prison, to watch him play with the intention of sitting down to talk with their president about buying him for 25 million gilders, which was about five million quid then.

"So we got on the plane in Portugal which was going from Lisbon to Porto and then Porto to Amsterdam.

"But my mate in Holland, a chap called Ray Clarke who had recommended him to me and was working for Coventry at the time, said phone me when you get to Porto because there might be a doubt about the game being on.

"So when we got there I went to the door of the plane and phoned him in Holland but he said 'don't come because the game's been called off.'

"At that point, we then got back on the plane and went back to Lisbon.

"But we were going to do the deal and it would have been a major transfer coup because he's a top man and they knew that even then."

However, that's not where the story ended.

Souness only found out the full extent of Benfica's financial difficulties some time later so, once he realised 'van the Man' was suddenly out of his price range, he decided to recommend him to someone else -- a certain Sir Alex Ferguson!

"After I found out we had no money I then told someone who was a mutual friend of mine and Fergie's that if he was looking for a striker then he should go out and buy him," said Souness.

"And that's exactly what he then went and did."

That advice could now come back to haunt him with van Nistelrooy set to spearhead United's attack tonight, fresh from his two-goal salvo against Fulham on Sunday.

It's three summers since Sir Alex last significantly strengthened his squad with the acquisitions of Jaap Stam, Dwight Yorke and Jesper Blomqvist who all played a vital role in securing the treble.

Since then the rest of the Premiership might have come nowhere near them as they cruised to the domestic title by margins of 18 points and 10 points respectively, but sides in Europe had started to overtake them.

So, in a world in which standing still is akin to falling backwards, Fergie and tough-talking skipper Roy Keane both publicly voiced the need to invest -- and finally the board concurred.

As a result, the £47 million investment in van Nistelrooy and Juan Veron is almost twice as much as that spending in 1998 -- but judging by the evidence so far it's likely to prove just as shrewd and successful.

Former United striker Mark Hughes, however, does not subscribe to the view that the title race is already over bar the shouting.

And as Sir Alex attempts to bring down the curtain on his managerial career with one last trophy-laden season, his former protege insists the cash he's splashed over the summer is all the incentive the rest of the Premiership needs to mount a more serious challenge.

"The fact they've spent that kind of money should make the rest of the league all the more determined to try and compete with them," said Hughes.

"There's no point giving it up before the season's properly started.

"Okay, they've got a couple of new players coming in but it could take time for them to settle in.

"So it's far from cut and dried before we've even reached the end of the first week."

United's jittery performance against Fulham on Sunday did offer the rest of the Premiership a glimmer of hope -- prompting a severe dressing down from a furious Fergie.

Souness wasn't fooled by that display, however, and though he insists no team is invincible, he admits it's going to take something special to stop them in their tracks again.

"I didn't look at Manchester United on Sunday and think they're 'going to be vulnerable here and they're going to be vulnerable there,'" said the Rovers boss.

"You've got to look at them over the last three or four years because it's the same group of players.

"And there isn't a team on this planet who can go and play out of their skins every time they go out onto the field.

"They're going to have indifferent days but the sign of a truly great team is to bounce back when they've been punched on the nose.

"And I'm just hoping there's going to be no backlash to what Fergie said to them after Sunday's game.

"So I'm not going to be fooled or influenced by what I saw on Sunday. I know what they are and what they're not and I just hope we can live up to the challenge."