Manchester United have received a huge fillip in their chase for Cristiano Ronaldo, with the Portuguese superstar's agent Jorge Mendes admitting his client could leave Real Madrid in the summer transfer window.
Ronaldo has been heavily linked with a move back to Old Trafford, with the 28-year-old expressing his love for his old club.
With Jose Mourinho expected to leave Real at the end of the season, speculation has been rife that Ronaldo could follow suit in leaving the Bernabeu.
Now high-powered agent Mendes has added fuel to the fire by admitting Ronaldo could leave the Spanish giants.
"I don't know," Mendes told Radio Mana Mana Sport. "Ronaldo would be an asset to any of the best teams in the world.
"We'll have to wait and see, he's at Real Madrid and I don't know if he wants to move. Maybe."
United have been looking at ways to sign Ronaldo, with the Red Devils looking at the possibility of funding the move by using some of the sponsors' money.
A cash-plus-player deal has also been mooted with Javier Hernandez going the other way.
Meanwhile, Ferguson admitted he and the rest of his scouting team have already identified a couple of targets and could make a move to sign them soon.
"We've been doing that (planning for next season) for a while," Ferguson told reporters. "Your scouting goes on for the full season, actually sometimes two seasons when you maybe monitor a younger player.
"You want to see how he does the next season. That is the process we go through. We've got some ideas where we're going and hopefully we can conclude them.
"We'll look at one or two bodies to come in. You've got to remember there are a lot of young players we expect to improve and take that into consideration.
"And you have to consider ages of players and protect that part. In the main, we're now where we are. We're comfortable.
"We have fantastic strength in depth. That's the area where we don't want to confuse ourselves because you end up with too many players and trying to keep them all happy. It's happened a few times this season."
Apart from Ronaldo, United have been heavily linked with moves for Robert Lewandowski of Borussia Dortmund and Benfica defender Ezequiel Garay.