December 30, 2009
Sir Alex Ferguson resigned to losing £30m Nemanja Vidic to Real Madrid
Nemanja Vidic’s days at Manchester United look increasingly numbered, with Real Madrid confident of signing the Serbia defender in the summer.
Having lured Cristiano Ronaldo from Old Trafford in a world-record £80 million deal in June, Real are planning another raid on the Barclays Premier League champions after identifying Vidic as their first-choice defensive target. Real will face competition from Barcelona and AC Milan, but expect to see off both as they prepare to embark on another frenzied shopping spree after their £220 million outlay last summer.
The Times revealed in November that Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, has reluctantly come to accept that he is fighting a losing battle trying to retain Vidic’s services.
It is not entirely out of the question that United will offer the defender a new contract before the end of the season, but they will not allow his present deal — which expires in June 2012 — to run down and will look to cash in if the player wants to leave.
United, who will move to within two points of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League if they beat Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford this evening, are likely to demand at least £30 million for the 28-year-old.
Simon Kjaer, the £15 million-rated Palermo and Denmark centre back, is understood to be figuring prominently in Ferguson’s thoughts. United could also move for Jack Rodwell, 18, of Everton, who is comfortable in midfield or defence, while reports in Spain have linked United with moves for Bruno Alves, of Porto.
Ferguson claimed yesterday that the departure of Ronaldo had not hit his team as hard as some probably hoped and is confident that they will go on a long unbeaten run now that their injury problems are easing.
Although United have lost five league games already this season and have struggled for momentum, they are only one point worse off than they were at the halfway stage last term and have scored 40 league goals compared with 32 after 19 games last season.
Asked if his opponents were disappointed United had not suffered more for the loss of Ronaldo, the United manager said: “It’s possible. Obviously, Cristiano is an unbelievable player and it was inevitable that at some point he was going to leave, but I think we’ve adjusted fairly well to it.
“I think a lot of people were looking at us losing Ronaldo as being crucial and that we wouldn’t be nearly as good, but it’s only a one-point difference in the league.
“You can’t go into the season with the loss of 26 goals, which Cristiano Ronaldo gave us last season, thinking you can improve that, but we’ve had [14] goalscorers this season. They’re weighing in from different positions, so why worry?
“We’ve got the experience and the players to go on a run now. I think we’re better placed than most teams in that respect and they’ll know that.”
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So Ure lose 3 first team players within 6 months and still put in sterling performances.... hhhmmmm....
Also looks like they're happy to reduce debt.