Deposed champions Manchester United are already beginning to feel the fall-out from losing their Premiership crown to Arsenal. As runners-up, United must qualify for the lucrative league stages of next season's European Cup and must play the first leg of their Champions' League preliminary round on 12 August, only three days before the start of the Premiership season. And with as many as ten Old Trafford stars expected to feature in the World Cup finals, manager Alex Ferguson knows his aim of giving all squad members a month's break before they report back for pre-season will prove impossible. ''It's a dilemma in terms of what I do with the players involved in the World Cup,'' he said. ''I've got ten away and ideally they would have a month's rest. If any of these young men get to the final that would be on July 12 and then a month later they would be playing in our preliminary game in the European Cup. It's something that I'm going to have to address when I speak to them in how we're going to handle it.'' The United chief's first instinct is to give his France 98 players a extra breather during the opening stages of the season. ''There is a nucleus of players who will not be involved in the World Cup and I will be relying heavily on them in the early part of the season,'' he added. United could also be involved in the Charity Shield on August 8 if Arsenal beat Newcastle in the FA Cup final to complete the double - and Ferguson claims that would also mean a rethink of his proposed preparations. He was planning to start pre-season on July 7, but may change that date. If we are in the Charity Shield, that would give us a fixture immediately before the European Cup game so I may have to adjust training slightly, he said. The qualifying match could also further delay the Munich testimonial match in which Eric Cantona is due to appear. United had hoped to play the already once-postponed game in early August but now admit there could be a problem. There were two pieces of good news for Ferguson yesterday, though Jaap Stam completed his record £10.75million move from PSV Eindhoven, signing a seven-year contract, and the manager's two-year-old racehorse Queensland Star won at Chester - its second victory in as many outings so far.

REDS LOSE OUT ON £2.5m-A-YEAR DEL PIERO   Manchester United fans' dream of the club responding to Arsenal's title stroll by snapping up Alessandro Del Piero crashed yesterday when the player revealed he is to sign a new contract - worth an incredible £12.5million - with Juventus. United, along with Chelsea and Newcastle, had been linked with a close-season move for the Italian striker and many Old Trafford supporters believed Alex Ferguson was preparing a deal to top even his Jaap Stam swoop. But instead Del Piero will sign a new five-year agreement with Juve worth around £2.5 million per season. Del Piero has enjoyed his best ever season with the Italian champions, his 31 goals powering Juventus towards their third title in four years and the European Cup final against Real Madrid later this month. The 23-year-old is being tipped by Italy coach Cesare Maldini to be their star of this summer's World Cup finals, although he has yet to show his true potential in a national shirt. Del Piero joined Juventus from second division Padova in 1993 and was soon tagged the "next Roberto Baggio" for his dribbling and goalscoring abilities. United are also expected to lose out on Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta, who is to leave Fiorentina at the end of the season but is thought to favour a move to another Italian club.

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