Vida deal delights boss
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Nemanja Vidic to be offered improved deal at Manchester United
• Two-year contract extension and £90,000 a week expected
• Serbian centre-half linked with move to Real Madrid
Nemanja Vidic is regarded by Manchester United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, as a key player in defence. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/ReutersManchester United are to offer Nemanja Vidic a contract extension that will place him among the highest earners at Old Trafford.
Vidic's position at United has been in doubt, with his agent indicating the 28-year-old is open to a move to Spain or Italy. Sir Alex Ferguson, speaking after the club's pre-season friendly against Philadelphia Union yesterday, admitted he could offer no guarantees on the defender's future. "I can't clarify it at all," the United manager said.
Real Madrid are among several clubs linked with the commanding centre-half this year, and Ferguson went only so far as to say "I believe so" when asked if Vidic will still be a Manchester United player next season.
United officials, however, mindful of the damaging repercussions should Vidic leave a club plagued by injuries in defence last season, hope to end the uncertainty by securing the Serb on an extended contract. The former Spartak Moscow defender, signed for £7m by United in 2006, has two years remaining on his £70,000-a-week deal and there is a feeling within Old Trafford that his agent is angling for improved terms.
United usually open negotiations with players entering the final two years of a contract and are expected to offer Vidic a two-year extension and improved terms of around £90,000 a week. Talks on a new £130,000-a-week contract for Wayne Rooney are also planned ahead of the Premier League season, with United confident of reaching a swift agreement with the England striker.
Despite his confidence that United's young talent can supplement a title challenge and diminish the need for major signings this summer, Ferguson has revealed that Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley will be allowed to join a Premier League club on loan next season. The pair impressed during United's 1-0 win over Philadelphia Union, in which Gabriel Obertan scored the only goal in a hard-fought contest from Welbeck's pass, but Ferguson believes their need for playing time necessitates a temporary move from Old Trafford.
On Welbeck, who is wanted by Steve Bruce at Sunderland, the United manager said: "It is a big season for Danny because over the last three seasons he has not had a consistent run of games. We sent him to Preston last year and he only ended up playing eight games and had an operation on his knee.
"One thing about him is that he is still growing so there is weakness in his legs. He is 6ft 2in and just sprouted up in the last year and a half. He needs consistent football so we might put him out on loan again to a Premier League team."
Cleverley, the highly rated England Under-21 international midfielder, is also available on a loan deal. "Tom is a very talented boy," Ferguson said. "He is going to be a very, very good footballer but we are considering putting him out on loan to a Premier League club as well.
"He is young and improved tremendously on loan at Watford last season. He got an unfortunate injury towards the end of the season which put him out for quite a long time, but he can play everywhere in midfield and that is a big advantage."
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Nemanja Vidic will sign his new contract at Manchester United when he returns from holiday. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Manchester United have ended the uncertainty surrounding Nemanja Vidic's future by reaching agreement with the Serbia international over a lucrative contract extension. The as yet unsigned deal is expected to keep the 28-year-old at Old Trafford until 2014 and will be worth around £90,000 a week.
Vidic's future at United has been under a cloud for several months and in June the player's agent, Paolo Fabbri, claimed the defender would consider his options after the World Cup. Real Madrid and several Italian clubs had been linked with the commanding central defender, a £7m signing from Spartak Moscow in 2006, although the feeling inside Old Trafford was that he was angling to elevate Vidic to being among the highest earners at the club.
That will now be the case once the legalities of Vidic's new contract are completed. United's chief executive, David Gill, who claimed the media was responsible for the uncertainty and that the stories "didn't come out of Nemanja's camp", is confident the deal will be signed before the start of the new Premier League season.
Gill said: "We sat down with Nemanja and his adviser at the end of last season and started discussions. They broke up when Nemanja went away to the World Cup, but resumed when Serbia were knocked out and I'm very pleased to confirm that we agreed terms with Nemanja three or four weeks ago on a new long-term deal with the club.
"It's yet to be signed – the paperwork is now being sorted by our lawyers and being checked by Nemanja's advisers. He's still away on holiday but the plan is that when he gets back the papers will be signed. We've shaken hands on it and we're confident it will all be signed and sealed in early August."
Vidic's commitment to Old Trafford will come as a major relief to Sir Alex Ferguson, who conceded this week that he was awaiting clarification on the player's future and could ill afford to lose the experienced defender at a time when Rio Ferdinand is recovering from a serious knee injury. Vidic was given a 28-day holiday by United after the World Cup and is scheduled to make his first appearance of pre-season in Dublin on 4 August. His present contract, worth £70,000 a week, is due to expire in 2012.
Ferguson has already strengthened his central defence this summer with the £12m acquisition of Chris Smalling, who had agreed to the move from Fulham in January. The 20-year-old had made only 11 appearances for Fulham when both United and Arsenal bid for his services in January, a total of 19 before he officially moved to Old Trafford on 1 July, and, three years after his pre-season involved playing for Maidstone United while awaiting his A-level results, Smalling admits the transformation is hard to reconcile.
"It is beginning to sink in after games," said the defender, who has appeared in United's two pre-seasonfriendlies against Celtic and Philadelphia Union. "At the minute I'm just playing how I normally do and I don't feel too much pressure. I'm just enjoying being at a club like this and learning from the players around me."
Smalling, one of only two summer signings by United so far, along with the £7m Mexico forward Javier Hernández, is confident an education alongside Vidic and Ferdinand will compensate for his lack of experience. "I don't feel under pressure because there are quite a lot of young players that the manager is bringing through and he has done that regularly over the years," Smalling added. "I have watched over the years how Rio has progressed into one of the finest and hopefully I can start training with him soon when he returns to fitness and obviously we have Vidic to come back. There are some quality centre-backs to learn my trade from."
United, meanwhile, have taken the usual step for them of putting 4,000 season tickets on open sale. The chief executive of the Manchester United Supporters' Trust, Duncan Drasdo, believes their availability is a clear indication of fans' growing unrest with the ownership of the Glazer family and their willingness to take action over the club's mountainous debt.
"Ticket demand has collapsed and the Glazers have to take a more realistic view of the value of the club because it is declining," Drasdo said. "Demand has changed despite the success of the team. People are sick of the way they've been treated. The interesting thing is that in the documents the Glazers produced when they were refinancing, they boasted that ticket prices would increase because the demand was so great."
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Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken of his delight at securing the services of Nemanja Vidic for a further four years.
Chief executive David Gill told MUTV on Friday that the Serbian defender had agreed a new deal with the Reds and his manager couldn’t be happier.
“We’re delighted,” the boss told reporters at a press conference on arrival in Kansas City. “He’s a fantastic centre-half – a great competitor with a marvellous attitude to winning games and it [this deal] really strengthens our hand.
“In the modern game it’s not easy to renew players’ contracts when they do well, particularly when they’re from other countries. Over the last year or so there has been speculation about Nemanja time and time again, sometimes fuelled by the press and sometimes other sources, but we never had a strong feeling that he really wanted to leave.
“There are always concerns when players do well because they want better contracts. But we’ve managed to achieve the target of agreeing a new four-year contract which we’re very pleased about.”