Vidic 'hates England and wants Spain move'
-
A case of mistranslation or the latest United star wanting to quit Manchester? An interview with Red Devils' defender Nemanja Vidic is sure to cause a storm after the Serbian international was quoted as saying he loathed the climate in England and aimed to play in Spain.
Russian magazine Football Weekly this month carries an interview in which Vidic may well have placed his long-term Manchester United future in doubt.
The 26-year-old defender said he had found it hard to adapt to life in England, saying: 'I will never stay to live in England, that's for sure. You get only a brief glimpse of sunlight before it's all cloudy again. The winters are mild, but in summer the temperatures seldom go higher than 20C. And it rains, rains, rains.
And he had harsh words for the quality of life for the country where he arrived in January 2006 after a spell at Spartak Moscow.
'It's not only the weather that I'm not happy about here. In Russia and Serbia the people's way of life is similar. In England it's totally different. Here they just don't have time to feel the joy of life.
'Throughout the week they all work so hard. They only talk to people at lunch break. Then in the evening they come home and watch the telly, so they can get up early for work the next day.
'The only time to meet friends is at weekends, but for football players it's the busiest time of all. It was much easier for me to adapt to Russia than England. In England I had no one to talk to. The first month was especially hard. I lived alone in a hotel, which I left only for training. I thought I would go crazy inside those four walls.'
Following the summer-long tug-of-war over Cristiano Ronaldo, Vidic's words about his playing future will have a familiar air to United fans: 'In future, I would like to test myself in another top league. I'm thinking of Spain. At least there will be no reason to complain about the weather.
And Mancunian fans of the English and European champions may well take offence at the comment that 'in England, they say that Manchester is the city of rain. Its main attraction is considered to be the timetable at the railway station, where trains leave for other, less rainy cities.'
United and Vidic's next step will be one to look out for. ..
-
Indirectly asking for a pay rise?
-
Damn right its fake!
Vidic clarifies Manchester criticism
Manchester United's defensive rock Nemanja Vidic has denied quotes attributed to him in Russian magazine Football Weekly.
The Serbia hard-man apparently spoke out about the dreadful weather in Manchester and expressed a desire to play in Spain in the future.
However, Vidic has attempted to defuse the row and stressed he was referring to his early days living in a hotel in a strange new city.
"I'd like to clarify that I did not make these particular remarks," he told United's official website.
"I spoke about the difficulty I had settling in to life in Manchester, but that does not reflect how I feel now.
"I enjoy my life very much as a footballer at Manchester United and I'm very happy to be a part of this great club. I think I show that in the way I play every week.
"I also have far too much respect for the people of Manchester, and England, to criticise them in this way."
-
-
I'm starting to not like Spanish clubs...