Saha, for whom Manchester United paid £12.8 million in January 2004, has scored only 15 times in the Premiership since then, although injuries have limited him to 28 starts. In this summer's World Cup finals he was no more than a bit-part player.

Yet, United manager Alex Ferguson believes Saha can fill the void left by Ruud van Nistelrooy, even to the extent of challenging the 20-goals-ayear average achieved by the Dutchman.

Ferguson has seen in Saha a striker with the promise of that capability since he scored twice for Fulham against United on the opening day of the 2001-02 season.

Now he feels that the return of the West London side to Old Trafford this afternoon can be the starting point for Saha to deliver a full return.

"Louis is a fantastic player, " Ferguson said. "He has pace, power, good feet and is good in the air, everything you could look for in a striker."

Saha's form over the second half of the 2005-06 campaign enabled him to displace Van Nistelrooy as Ferguson's first-choice front man, a development that ultimately led to the latter's departure for Real Madrid. The United manager's faith in Saha has not precluded him from scouring the European market for "someone who could guarantee us Ruud's goals" but after apparently backing away from a move for Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres, he has concluded that "there is no one."

After a summer spent watching Chelsea and Liverpool take turns to unveil highprofile signings, United supporters may be forgiven a measure of disappointment if their side's line-up this afternoon is little changed from the one that ended last season. Yet Ferguson insists he starts with a stronger hand.

"If we don't have long-term injuries, we are better equipped, " he said.

Assuming Ferguson has no further targets beyond his pursuit of Owen Hargreaves, it is likely that Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo will be the players charged with easing the burden on Saha. In Ronaldo's case, dealing with the inevitable backlash to his involvement with Rooney's World Cup red card is an extra hurdle to overcome, although Ferguson has full confidence that the Portugal forward will have a thick enough skin.

"Eric Cantona and David Beckham had to deal with that and they both overcame it, " he said. "The crowds can boo all they like but I don't believe Cristiano will let it affect him."

FA PREMIERSHIP MANCHESTER UNITED v FULHAM Old Trafford, 2.00 Live, Prem Plus, 1.30