Ferguson hails United duo

The Manchester United manager has chosen the Mexico striker and Federico Macheda as the players to rival Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen, once fit.

Danny Welbeck and Mame Biram Diouf will go on loan to get regular games and gain further experience.

Hernandez, 22, made an instant impact in his first match for the club after arriving from Chivas Guadalajara, scoring in the 5-2 victory against the MLS All-Stars.

Macheda, four years younger, bagged a brace - the first after 24 seconds - and Ferguson believes both players have bright futures.

"I need to keep Macheda and Hernandez, " said the United boss. "There was a lot of purpose in the way they played their football.

"To play for a club like this is not just about talent. You need something else and they've got something else. I am pleased with that."

Ferguson believes Hernandez has similar qualities to England striker Rooney, who skipped the northern summer tour following the FIFA World Cup.

It was a cool finish by the new recruit, who only joined the squad this week after playing in South Africa, where he scored two goals for his country.

Ferguson said: "If we are talking about a combination with Wayne, I think we would need to adjust a bit. They are similar types of players.

"We will assess Hernandez really well and make sure we can bring him to good consistent form.

"There are still little things to do but not a great deal. One he gets used to our training I think he will be okay."

Veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was impressed with the way Hernandez took his chance - a delicate lob from the edge of the area into the net - after stepping off the bench.

"We scored some top quality goals and we're all delighted that Hernandez got himself on the scoresheet in his first game," said the 39-year-old Dutchman.

"He looks very sharp and has a good eye for goal. You could see his quality from the first chance he had just before he scored. The finish for his goal was tremendous."

Hernandez's goal sparked wild celebrations among the 70,000 supporters at the Reliant Stadium, hardly surprising given that nearly one million Mexicans live in the Houston area.

So his return to Guadalajara for United's final tour match should be something special.

Hernandez, who will play a half for each side, said: "I don't how I will feel yet but obviously this is an effort by all the people who supported me.

"From the start of my career I owe everything to Chivas and thanks to them I am where I am now."

Ferguson was pleased with the way United responded against the All-Stars following the surprise defeat by Kansas City Wizards with Darron Gibson and Tom Cleverley also on target.

He said: "The thing I was looking for was our possession of the ball. We were much better at that.

"Through that we had a good tempo to our game, good rhythm to our play. It was a really good performance by us. We got a good start to the match and the team were confident for this challenge."

The only downside was an ankle injury sustained by Gabriel Obertan which is expected to rule the French winger out for two weeks.