Manchester United news and links

Patience has proved to be a virtue for Sir Alex Ferguson following Nani’s devastating performances for Manchester United over the past fortnight.


Brought to Old Trafford in 2007 for more money than it took to secure the services of Cristiano Ronaldo from the same Sporting Lisbon source, apart from a few sporadic performances and a couple of eye-catching goals, Nani has failed to convince.

• Midfielder not played since September 2008 due to knee injury
• ‘He could make an impact on the league’ says United manager

Sir Alex Ferguson insists Owen Hargreaves will eventually return to action even though he has been forced to leave the £18m midfielder out of Manchester United’s Champions League squad.

Hargreaves has not played for United since September 2008, when he decided to undergo revolutionary knee surgery in the US to try to cure a chronic tendinitis problem that dates back to his time at Bayern Munich.

The 29-year-old eventually returned to United’s Carrington training base 12 months later after undergoing an extensive rehabilitation programme under the guidance of the world-renowned knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman.

At the time, it was thought Hargreaves would be back in action by November, but that deadline was missed and so have others Ferguson subsequently put in place.

Knowing there was no chance of Hargreaves being fit for the Champions League knockout round clash with Milan later this month, Ferguson opted to leave the player out of his 25-man squad, which had to be submitted to Uefa by the end of last month.

Yet Ferguson insists the bad news need not necessarily prove terminal and that Hargreaves could still play a major role this season.

“Owen’s recovery is slow,” Ferguson admitted. “It is a year and a half now and I can’t put a time on it. But he will be back. He could come back and make an impact on the league for us. Hopefully he does.

“There are more games in the league than there are in the European Cup and I don’t need to register him for the league.”

The 21-year-old defender Ritchie de Laet has taken Hargreaves’ place in United’s Champions League squad.

The 2010 Nike training range now available at United Direct.

Manchester United storm to the top of the Premier League after crushing bottom club Portsmouth.

Manchester United will cite the example of Javier Mascherano when they attempt to prove Rio Ferdinand did not lodge a “frivolous” appeal against a three-match ban last week.


Ferdinand was hit with a violent conduct charge by the Football Association for striking Hull’s Craig Fagan in a Premier League game at Old Trafford on January 23.

Boss leaves Owen out of Euro squad, but insists he’ll return this season.

Sir Alex Ferguson insists Owen Hargreaves will eventually return to action even though he has been forced to leave the £18million midfielder out of Manchester United’s Champions League squad.


Hargreaves has not played for United since September 2008, when he finally decided to undergo revolutionary knee surgery in America to try to cure a chronic tendinitis problem that dates back to his time at Bayern Munich.

Backing a correct score could be the ticket to a big win this weekend.

IN a practice match at United’s training ground on his first day at Old Trafford, 15-year-old
George Best picked up the ball, waltzed past three experienced defenders and cheekily poked it into the net through the legs of goalkeeper Harry Gregg.

Nemanja Vidic has trained well this week and may return v Portsmouth.

Had
Norbert ‘Nobby’ Stiles been playing today, his job description would be that of holding midfielder.

Egyptian star is on United’s wanted list, according to The Sun.

AC Milan have reportedly joined the race for Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic.


Real Madrid have been tracking the big Serbian and he could be set for a £20m summer move, but now the Rossoneri could try to tempt the Reds with a cash-plus-player deal, using their Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar.

Van der Sar says Kuszczak and co have put United in place to strike in the title race.

The tragedy will be remembered with a minute’s silence and black armbands.

David Beckham looks ahead to a Red reunion and reflects on days gone by.

Brazilian speaks of his determination and desire to succeed with United.

Manchester United legend, United director - ultimately Sir Bobby Charlton is a United fan. And like many of his fellow supporters he admits to having his concerns in recent weeks.


Not that he shares in the prophecies of doom that have been so prevalent since club finances revealed only the world record sale of Cristiano Ronaldo prevented football’s biggest money-making machine from recording a loss for the last financial year.

In 2005, United hit back at criticism by undoing Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.

• Manchester United players talking openly of Vidic leaving
• Serbia defender aware of interest from Milan

Nemanja Vidic’s apparent desire to leave Manchester United at the end of the season has brought him to the attention of Milan, the club’s opponents in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The Serie A side have identified the ­centre-half as a summer target and have been encouraged by their initial inquiries after speaking to several intermediaries, all of whom have reported that the Serbia international is looking for a move, contrary to what he has stated in public.

One idea that has been mooted at San Siro is to offer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar as the bait in a player-plus-cash exchange although it is unclear whether United would have any interest in the Holland international, who was one of Europe’s more prolific strikers at Ajax but has failed to reproduce that form since leaving the Netherlands, initially to Real Madrid before a £12m move to Milan last August.

Vidic has repeatedly denied being unsettled at Old Trafford, having served the club with distinction since signing from Spartak Moscow four years ago, as well as expressing surprise about reports that his wife, Ana, has not embraced life in Manchester and would like to leave England for Spain or Italy. He was interviewed in the latest edition of the Red News fanzine and complained that the stories had no basis. “My wife, I need to say, doesn’t have the place to say she is not happy,” he said. “I never said it as well. That means stupid things are going on. You can’t stop some of the things. Last year I think I had a good year and when some players play well, obviously [there is speculation] they are going somewhere.It’s part of the game.”

However, his colleagues at United have been told something different and it is now being discussed openly among the other players. Sir Alex Ferguson also believes that Vidic’s mind might be made up, the manager reputedly telling colleagues that United’s player of the year last season “does not want to hang around”.

The suspicion at Old Trafford is that Vidic is aware of interest from other clubs although United said yesterday that they had not been contacted by any potential buyers. Vidic is out of contract in 2012 and there is a sense that he might be using the speculation to help get a better pay deal at a time when United have confirmed they will be offering Wayne Rooney new terms in the summer, which would make him the best-paid player in the club’s history, with a salary of around £150,000 a week.

Ferguson will still try to talk Vidic out of leaving but is unsure that even the offer of a lucrative new contract would be enough to persuade him to stay. Those concerns played a significant part in United paying £10.7m last week to set up a deal to sign Chris Smalling, the 20-year-old Fulham defender, at the end of the season.

Smalling would have a considerable void to fill though if, as United fear, Vidic does start to agitate for a move after four years in which his consistently impressive performances have been a significant factor in the team’s success. That form makes it realistic for United to want £25m for the player, though Vidic has had an erratic season so far, hampered by a number of different injuries. His relationship with Ferguson is also thought to have suffered, the manager beginning to speak about Vidic’s tendency to pull out of games with an exasperation bordering on anger.

A recurrence of a nerve problem meant Vidic removed himself from the squad for Sunday’s win at Arsenal after a training session the day before and it is unclear as yet whether he will be able to return to the team for tomorrow’s game at home to Portsmouth.

Ferguson has considerable faith in Jonny Evans, as well as Wes Brown and John O’Shea, but there are lingering concerns about Rio Ferdinand’s fitness after he missed three months because of a long-term back problem.

Ferdinand, currently suspended for four games for striking the Hull City forward Craig Fagan in an off-the-ball incident, has been troubled by the issue for 18 months and is still having rehabilitation sessions with a specialist. The England international is 31 and United’s doctors fear the problem could resurface.

It was confirmed that Owen Hargreaves has been left out of Manchester United’s Champions League squad.

One United Members can now apply for tickets…

Everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s visit of Pompey.

Wayne Rooney has been named ManUtd.com’s Player of the Month for January.

Thursday night’s Manchester Senior Cup derby has been postponed.

ANDERSON has been given an Old Trafford reprieve - but the Brazilian may have just four months to grasp it with both hands.


And if the 21-year-old South American wants to know how to become flavour of the month again, then a chat with his United buddy Nani might not be a bad idea.

OWEN Hargreaves’ injury nightmare looks set to continue after being omitted from United’s squad for the second phase of the Champions League.


The midfielder has been replaced by Ritchie de Laet in the 25-man squad, raising doubts about whether he will kick a ball again this season.

Brazilian will be in action for United’s second string against City tonight.

• Midfielder had double knee surgery in October 2008
• United will be without England player for knockout stages

Owen Hargreaves has been left out of Manchester United’s Champions League squad for the remainder of the season.

The move almost certainly ends any chance the midfielder had of forcing his way into Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad and raises fresh doubts over his chances of making a full recovery from double knee surgery in October 2008.

Last month Sir Alex Ferguson stated his intention to pick Hargreaves in his 25-man European squad. But Uefa have confirmed the former Bayern Munich player is not among the men United will rely on in their quest to reach a third successive final.

Plagued by a tendinitis problem since before his £18m move to Old Trafford in 2007, Hargreaves finally accepted the need for surgery last season. He was closely monitored by the renowned Colorado-based knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman until his return to United’s Carrington training base in September.

At that point, Ferguson was hopeful Hargreaves would feature in the final two matches of the Champions League group phase. Instead, potential comeback dates kept getting pushed back, with Ferguson citing a lack of confidence from the player himself for a slower than expected recovery.

Ferguson’s latest fitness bulletin about the midfielder confirmed he was training with the first team for part of the week.

Still there has been no return to match action and the latest news – which rules him out of the knockout round fixtures with Milan later this month – will only bring fresh doubt over Hargreaves’s chances of rediscovering the form that saw him named England’s player of the World Cup in Germany four years ago.

Sir Alex Ferguson says Owen Hargreaves may still play in the latter stages of this season’s Premier League campaign despite long-term tendinitis problems.

Giggs says Rooney is edging closer to becoming one of world’s best.

Wayne Rooney scored the goal of his career so far in April 2005.

Cristiano Ronaldo netted his first of many United goals against Pompey back in 2003.

Sir Alex returns to Glasgow and recalls a pivotal day in football history.

We’re interviewing former striker Joe Jordan. What should we ask him?

United’s title odds shorten after Chelsea’s draw at Hull City.

Ryan Giggs believes Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney is edging closer to the select group of players currently regarded the best in the world.


The 24-year-old has just completed a memorable week, which began with his first four-goal haul in the victory over Hull.

FIFA blame the English and German media for scare stories keeping travelling fans away from this summer’s World Cup in South Africa.


Inflated prices, a recession and difficult logistics may be closer to the point, but the tabloids haven’t been slow to highlight the crime statistics.

Van der Sar extols the virtues of experience as the title race tightens up.

It’s amazing what a Manchester derby success and a win at Arsenal can do.


Had City triumphed in the Carling Cup semi and United fallen at the Emirates, Reds fans and critics alike would have been giving Sir Alex Ferguson both barrels for his relative inactivity in the January transfer window.

No review of United’s greatest players of the past 100 years would be complete without the name of
Duncan Edwards appearing in the list.

Antonio is targeting trophies as his first United season enters the run-in.

The match programme could help you win a 2010/11 season ticket.

Jonny Evans is right back on track in his quest to avoid second season syndrome accusations.


Sir Alex Ferguson hailed the 22-year-old as Rio Ferdinand’s eventual successor during the Belfast-born defender’s breakthrough campaign last season.

Multi-millionaire Fred Done is one of the mysterious Red Knights looking to potentially make a bid to buy United, it can be revealed.


MEN Sport is aware the Salford-born bookie, who until the start of this season was the Reds’ official betting partner, has been approached by a legal ‘Mr Fixit’ to be part of the group of Manchester-based big hitters looking to replace the Glazers.

Will Owen Hargreaves be fit to travel to AC Milan later this month?

MULTI-millionaire Fred Done is one of the mysterious Red Knights looking to potentially make a bid to buy United, it can be revealed.


MEN Sport is aware the Salford-born bookie, who until the start of this season was the Reds’ official betting partner, has been approached by a legal ‘Mr Fixit’ to be part of the group of Manchester-based big hitters looking to replace the Glazers.

Sir Alex celebrated his 1,000th match as Reds boss in November 2004.

Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, his wife Coleen and their agent are sued for £4.3m by a sports management firm.

How does 3-1 at the Emirates compare with other Premier League away wins?

What a fantastic week it has been for United.


It is hard to imagine that earlier this month we were all wondering where the Reds’ missing spark was going to come from.