Sir Alex Ferguson has left behind a legacy at Manchester United that will be hard to match by any of his successors.Talent recognition was one of his characteristic traits. Young and unestablished players often looked up to the Scot as a father figure and counted on him to take them to stardom.Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, was a relatively young and unknown player when the veteran spotted him. What he has since achieved at both club and international level is plain for all to see.Given the monetary restrictions that were in place at Old Trafford back then, Ferguson often looked at signing comparatively cheaper players. It was under his expert stewardship that they excelled and gave Manchester United the success it deserved.When Sir Alex Ferguson was tempted to spend bigMuch of the importance was assigned to Manchester United's youth academy at the time of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign. The emergence of players such as Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs stands testament to the 79-year-old's preference towards the youth set-up.However, there were times when Sir Alex Ferguson went looking for well-established players to sort out his problems. Though the transfer money involved wasn't as high as they are in an inflated market right now, they were still significant.In the list below we are going to discuss Sir Alex Ferguson's five most expensive transfers:#5 Anderson: FC Porto to Manchester United (£28m)Anderson was one of the brightest youngsters when he signed for Manchester United.Anderson was regarded as one of the brightest young talents in world football when Sir Alex Ferguson decided to sign him from FC Porto back in 2007.His statistics before signing for Manchester United looked impressive. He had won the Golden Ball at the 2005 Under-17 World Cup and played amazing football for Gremio. That started to interest top European clubs, with Real Madrid and Chelsea also keeping track of the player. But it was Manchester United who acted first.FULL-TIME Norwich 0-1 Man Utd. Welbeck's second-half goal makes it 4 straight #BPL wins for Man Utd #NORMUN pic.twitter.com/3IiXPYg5QN"— Anderson (@LusdeAbreu8) December 28, 2013However, with Wayne Rooney moving down to play the number 10 role at Old Trafford, Anderson was used as a central midfielder. The role was new to him and he found it hard to settle in.Despite that, Anderson enjoyed an impressive first season, winning both the Premier League and the Champions League accolades. He scored from the spot in the big European final against Chelsea.Unfortunately, his initial promise faded, with injuries contributing to his woes. He never really got the chance to get back to his former self. Anderson finally left Old Trafford two years after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement.#4 Wayne Rooney: Everton to Manchester United (£33m)Wayne Rooney joined Manchester United at the age of just 18Wayne Rooney was just 18 years old when he left Everton to join Manchester United in a £33m deal. The youngster said the chance to work with Sir Alex Ferguson and some of the world's greatest players to create a special team made him sign.He had an immediate impact, scoring 17 goals from 43 appearances during the 2004-05 season. His contributions, though, weren't enough for Manchester United to win the Premier League.As time went on, Rooney began stamping his authority on Sir Alex Ferguson's team. He developed excellent chemistry with Cristiano Ronaldo and then with Carlos Tevez during their Champions League-winning campaign. The trio contributed towards 71.8 per cent of Manchester United's goals that season, finishing with 79 goals and 29 assists.Wayne Rooney can't see Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester City 💔 pic.twitter.com/p5q95VeGA9— Goal (@goal) August 27, 2021By then, Sir Alex Ferguson had started using Rooney in a deeper position as a number 10. The player was at ease in his new role and became one of Manchester United's best tacklers in midfield.Rooney combined with Dimitar Berbatov and Robin van Persie later on to give his club consistent success.