Thanks Carlitos, glad to see you go?

First of all, let's get it clear: the CounterAttack would have preferred to welcome back Carlos Tevez than see him go.

The little Argentine is a dynamic force who has a knack for scoring important goals wherever he goes. With Ronaldo's departure, Tevez would have either landed a starter's role or would have seen increased playing time - considering he had more appearances than Rooney or Berbatov last season, that's saying a lot. He was a dynamo whose graft was clearly appreciated by the United faithful.

Turning down the £25.5 million re-signing fee, however, is not a bad thing. The total £35.5 million (including the £10 million United paid to 'borrow' Carlitos two seasons ago) is a lot for a role-playing forward. Let's not forget that Tevez is prone to go missing for stretches, at least in the Premier League. Again, not a sour grapes comment. But while five goals in 29 games last season, and 26 goals in 89 games for West Ham and Manchester from 2006-09, are respectable, they're hardly irreplaceable.

So this is not a case of a player lost as it is an opportunity to use the saved funds to buy a more appropriate player. For the same money, United could acquire the services of a Wesley Sneijder or Rafael van der Vaart. Let's not forget that United already had £25 million in the transfer kitty before the Ronaldo sale.

Put another way: Sir Alex could finish the expected Antonio Valencia signing (£17 million), go after Karim Benzema (£40 million), have enough to splash out for a Sneijder, and still have not used up the entire available funds.

This is not a United squad that needs an overhaul. Losing a talent like Ronaldo is not fun but it does open the team's tactics to spread the wealth rather than rely on a single player. Ironically, Tevez would have been one to benefit from this.

Yes, it would be crazy and disingenuous to say "good riddance" or to say that the team could not benefit from keeping him. But it is equally loopy to say that his loss plus Ronaldo signals the demise of this United squad.

The CounterAttack fully expects Rooney and Berbatov to thrive in the new lineup as the focus of attack. It is easy to see them feeding off each other. A few key signings, a little bit of luck with some of the younger talent (Welbeck, Macheda, Derbyshire), a healthy Hargreaves. No, it won't be easy to win the 19th title but when was it ever?

Besides, since Carlitos claims he doesn't want to go to Liverpool for "emotional reasons", he has all our thanks, in every way.