Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours

[alex18122003]

Originally Posted by yinyang

Time to change your siggie? Try: Proud member of SAHA (Saha At Hospital Again) fan club too. He's not even in transfer gossips.. MC king (to xmas again?) few clubs interested liao. Free transfer?

MC King to Xmas....very long lor.
Maybe ask Alex to give SAha a big bonus after discharge.
Send or load him off to other clubs.
2nd choice is to let him rest on the bench every games.

[asiancigar]

Juz can't wait for season to start again......

Frankly, i think SAF might not sell anyone..... and it would be better for us... than we will have 2 players for every position... superb!!!

Cheerz (hic!)
AC

[yinyang]

Originally Posted by asiancigar

Juz can't wait for season to start again......
Frankly, i think SAF might not sell anyone.....

Well, your fave smithy's on his way to boro. 1st team action also a push factor. Shakeout's also natural attrition in summer lull..

How's Stingy pub these days. Thought of pre-season get together beer (any excuse to quench thirst).. kekeke. You in town for rollcall?

[tenggiri]

Originally Posted by yinyang

His white hair also probably affected by sour (red?) wine... or was it port?

Haha bro. Before the sour port there was the sour grapes. I think he swallowed one too many these past month.

[qbdp]

Nani can be as good as me, says Ronaldo

Manchester United's new winger Nani could be as good as, if not better than, current star Cristiano Ronaldo.

This is the view of Ronaldo himself, who also said he would do all he could to ensure Portuguese countryman Nani and fellow new signing Anderson settle into life at Old Trafford as quickly as possible.

Together the pair are believed to have cost United around £35 million, although Ronaldo claims that Nani could repay all of this price tag on his own if he fulfils his potential.

"I really hope he has the same success as me, or even more, because he's got the ability to do this," the 22-year-old, who won the Premiership player and young player of the year awards last season, said.

"He's joining the right club to evolve as a player and as a person."

Ronaldo added: "I still haven't spoken with Nani but I am going to do everything I can so that his stay in Manchester goes well.

"Whatever I can do for Nani and Anderson I'll do with the greatest of pleasure because they don't know Manchester or how the club operates."

Under the guidance of long-time boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United's young stars have frequently blossomed – particularly Ronaldo, who has become one of the most feared and respected players in the Premiership despite his vilification at the beginning of last season.

Alongside Wayne Rooney, the Portuguese helped the Red Devils scoop their first league title since 2003 – ending Chelsea's run of two consecutive titles.

[mr_missile]

Originally Posted by yinyang

Well, your fave smithy's on his way to boro. 1st team action also a push factor.

If Smith really goes to Boro, I'd be quite sad.
He may not be the most skilful of strikers. But he more than makes up for it with his tenacity. Always giving his 100%, unlike a certain Saha....
Well, I'm not Sir Alex. He knows best I suppose.

[mr_missile]

Latest transfer gossip

SMITH SAYS NO TO BORO

There's similar contradiction - if contradiction can be similar - in the papers about the future of Alan Smith.

Although The Daily Telegraph and Guardian believe that the ManYoo forward will make a decision on a proposed move to Middlesbrough when he returns on holiday later this week, The Sun says that he has already decided to say no.

'Gareth Southgate will fail to lure Alan Smith to Middlesbrough,' it reports. 'Smith, 26, wants European football and is set to snub Boro. Spurs are favourites with Sunderland, Everton and Portsmouth also keen.'

The Daily Mail agrees with the Spurs angle, announcing on its back page that 'Tottenham have joined the race for ?million-rated Manchester United forward Alan Smith.'

[yinyang]

Tuesday's gossip column

TRANSFER RUMOURS
Real Madrid and Barcelona are preparing the ground for bids for Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea are facing stiff competition from AC Milan for Brazilian wonderkid Alexandre Pato. (The Sun)

Manchester United will step up their interest in Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen following Thierry Henry's move to the Nou Camp. (Daily Mirror)

The move for Gudjohnsen is dependent on the successful sale of Alan Smith, Man Utd having accepted a £6m bid from Middlesbrough. (Daily Mirror)

West Ham striker Carlos Tevez admits he is interested in being Henry's replacement at Arsenal. (The Sun)

Charlton striker Darren Bent looks set to complete a £14m move to Tottenham in the next 48 hours. (Daily Star)

Bolton are preparing a £5m raid on Reading for Leroy Lita - with Nicolas Anelka likely to leave The Reebok. (Daily Star)

Preston striker David Nugent is waiting for interest from Everton after having talks with Sunderland and West Ham. (The Sun)

Manchester City will make a £4m bid to snatch Yossi Benayoun from under Liverpool's nose. (Daily Mirror)

Sunderland boss Roy Keane has made an approach for Wigan's £6million-rated England Under-21 left-back Leighton Baines. (The Sun)

Liverpool outcast Djibril Cisse has been offered to Atletico Madrid in part exchange for Fernando Torres. (Daily Mirror)

Torres is ready to confront his Atletico bosses in an effort to break the deadlock over his propsed move to Anfield. (Daily Mail)

Parma have made a £6m bid for Man Utd striker Giuseppe Rossi. (The Times)

Atletico Madrid want to sign Jose Antonio Reyes from Arsenal. (Daily Mirror)

Ex-Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris, 29, will train with Charlton in a bid to earn a permanent deal at The Valley. (The Sun)

Celtic playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura seeks clarification on his contract amid reports he has a clause allowing him to leave the SPL champions for £1m. (Various).

Manchester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeicel may return to Falkirk after managerless City brought in another keeper. (Daily Express)

OTHER GOSSIP
Barcelona are closing in on Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to replace Frank Rijkaard. (Daily Star)

Arsenal will offer Arsene Wenger a 50% pay rise in the hope that he signs a new contract in the next week. (The Sun)

Fifa and the FA will give Newcastle around £10m in compensation for the injury which sidelined Michael Owen for 10 months. (Various)

Sven-Goran Eriksson intends to bring in current Sweden assistant manager Roland Andersson as his number two. (Various)

Portsmouth technical director Avram Grant will be named Chelsea's new sporting director on 1 July. (Independent)

American tycoon Dan Williams will have talks with Blackburn today about a potential £67m takeover. (Daily Mirror)

AND FINALLY
Thierry Henry becomes the first player since the great Johan Cruyff to wear the number 14 shirt at Barcelona. (Daily Mirror)

[JrJediMaster]

Man utd buy 2 midfielder this time and think it might cause some unrest in the club. It is a good idea to buy nani and hegreaves at the same time althugh they r both great player?

[yinyang]

Mid week trvia...

Wednesday's gossip column

TRANSFER RUMOURS
Parma have made a bid, thought to be £6m, for Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi. (The Guardian)

Liverpool's record £25m bid for Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres is being held up by the striker's £2.5m pay-off clause. (The Sun)

West Ham striker Carlos Tevez is likely to leave for Inter Milan this summer. (Daily Mirror)

Thaksin Shinawatra has set his sights on bringing Shaun Wright-Phillips back to Manchester City when his takeover is complete. (The Sun)

Preston striker David Nugent could have to wait until Christmas to get his dream move to Everton. (The Sun)

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes is pulling out of a deal for Roma's Shabani Nonda and will offload Francis Jeffers to Ipswich. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea defender Wayne Bridge will snub a move from Stamford Bridge as he expects to be number one left-back at the club next season. (Daily Star)

Tottenham will listen to offers for Jermain Defoe once they complete the signing of Charlton's Darren Bent. (Daily Mirror)

Charlton are refusing to budge on their asking price of £17m for Bent. (The Independent)

Birmingham boss Steve Bruce is lining up a double swoop for Arsenal's Mathieu Flamini and Celta Vigo's Daniel de Ridder. (The Sun)

Bruce is close to signing French star Olivier Kapo from Juventus. (Daily Mirror)

Sunderland boss Roy Keane is plotting a swoop for West Brom defenders Paul McShane and Paul Robinson. (The Sun, Daily Mail)

Dutch star Ryan Babel will snub a move to Arsenal this summer to stay at Ajax, but has admitted he is tempted by a move in the future. (Various)

OTHER GOSSIP
Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has admitted he does not know whether Arsene Wenger will stay at the club. (Daily Mirror)

But Wenger's good friend Max Hild, his former boss at Strasbourg, says that he will remain at the north London club for life. (The Sun)

Former Fulham boss Chris Coleman has had talks about becoming the new Real Sociedad coach. (Various)

Hong Kong billionaire Carson Yeung Ka-Shing is closing in on his takeover of Birmingham. (The Sun)

Newcastle's new owner Mike Ashley is ready to invest £50m in transfer cash to trigger the club's revival. (Daily Mirror)

Alan Curbishley's future as West Ham boss could be in doubt despite him leading them to Premiership safety last season. (Daily Star)

Sven-Goran Eriksson has agreed to take the Manchester City job and prove his critics wrong. (Daily Express)

Eriksson has agreed a three-year deal worth £3m a season - making him one of the Premiership's highest paid managers behind Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho.

City fans have been rushing to snap up season tickets with the prospect of Eriksson to splash £50m of the new owner's money. (The Sun)

Eriksson will have to wait until next week to be named as Stuart Pearce's successor. (Daily Star)

Thai prosecutors are stepping up their bid to derail Shinawatra's £81.6m takeover bid. (Daily Telegraph)

Officials from the Premier League, FA and Football League have agreed to meet sports minister Richard Caborn for talks over foreign ownership of clubs. (Various)

Chelsea want Portsmouth's technical director Avram Grant in place as their sporting director in time for their pre-season trip to LA. (the Sun)

Everton's plans to move to a new 55,000-seater stadium in Kirkby have been hit by protests from local residents. (Daily Mail)

AND FINALLY
David Beckham is being urged to cut short his holiday to help the LA Galaxy, who have slumped to second bottom of their division. (The Sun)

Uefa has admitted English football fans are unfairly targeted by foreign riot cops. (The Sun)

[qbdp]

Hargreaves flies in fit and ready for the United cause

Sir Alex Ferguson is due back behind his desk at Manchester United’s training ground this morning and, while his in-tray includes difficult decisions to make over several fringe players, his first duties will include welcoming Owen Hargreaves to the club. The England midfield player will fly in from Canada to put his signature to a four-year contract today, formalising the £17 million transfer from Bayern Munich that has been a year in the waiting.

Hargreaves, whose contract takes effect from Sunday, will briefly return to Munich before joining his new teammates for the start of pre-season training a week today and he has declared himself fit to participate fully from the outset. The 25-year-old made only a handful of appearances for Bayern after breaking a leg last September and was forced to miss England’s matches against Brazil and Estonia this month, but he is understood to have informed United’s coaching staff that he is fully fit after a summer of recuperation in his native Canada.

That would leave Hargreaves free to join his new teammates on their pre-season tour to Asia next month, with matches scheduled in +++yo, Seoul and Macau and a fourth game probably in Guangzhou, China. Nani, the 20-year-old winger signed from Sporting Lisbon, may appear for some of the tour, despite playing for Portugal in the European Under-21 Championship finals, but Anderson, his fellow newcomer, is unlikely to, given his participation for Brazil in the Copa America, which began in Venezuela yesterday.

Professional Footballers’ Association rules entitle players to four weeks’ consecutive rest between seasons, but Anderson is likely to return in late July or early August to prepare for his first season in England.

Kieran Richardson is another who may miss part of the Asia tour, having played for England in the Under-21 Championship finals, but he may return early in an attempt to fight for his future at the club. The 22-year-old’s prospects at Old Trafford appear bleak in view of Nani’s arrival and he is attracting interest from at least two other Barclays Premier League clubs.

Ferguson also has decisions to make over several other players as he looks to raise funds to buy a new centre forward. He has accepted a £6 million bid from Middlesbrough for Alan Smith, who has yet to decide whether to move to Teesside. Smith returned from holiday in Florida but immediately jetted off to Dubai. He arrives back on Tuesday and will make a decision then. The United manager is also prepared to sell Gabriel Heinze, the Argentina defender, who is the subject of interest from several clubs in Spain. Heinze’s future will be decided after the Copa America.

United also have a £6 million offer on the table from Parma for Giuseppe Rossi, the Italy Under-21 forward, who spent the second half of last season on loan to the Italian club. Rossi is highly rated at Old Trafford, but he has started only one league match for the club and, in view of Anderson’s arrival, may be sold if it enables Ferguson to bid for a centre forward to compete with Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Fabio Quagliarella, the Udinese forward, is one player who has come under Ferguson’s microscope, but his agent, Silvio Pagliari, having talked of a bid from United, said yesterday: “I am convinced he will remain at Udinese.”

[qbdp]

Anderson in Brazil squad

UNITED'S new South American star Anderson is set to become the club's next fully fledged international.

The 2005 FIFA World Under-17 Championship player of the tournament is included in Brazil's squad for the defence of their Copa America title starting in Venezuela today.

Anderson hasn't been capped at senior level and there have been concerns he won't be granted a work permit for not playing the requisite number of international fixtures.

However, the 19-year-old former Porto favourite is in line to make a debut against Mexico.

Brazil haven't picked AC Milan ace Kaka or Barcelona legend Ronaldinho for the competition.

And that could open the door for the new Reds player who is thrilled by how is career is unfolding.

Speaking before the tournament Anderson said: "My career I owe to my family.

"From starting well at Gremio, later going to Europe to joining a great club like Porto and now making an even bigger step at 19 to join Manchester United is incredible," he enthused.

"Everything will be different in England, I know that. But I am certain I will adjust quickly to life in England.

"In just a short time I have managed to impress for the Selecao and win a place in the squad for the Copa America.

"I am proud, as is my family. For me, everything is new, it's a dream come true."

Meanwhile, United have been linked with the next Brazilian teen star, Renato Augusto.

The 19-year-old Flamenco midfielder is reported to have turned down a 10m euro move to France. Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea are also keen.

But, having signed Anderson and Nani, future purchases by Sir Alex Ferguson will have to have the experience to step straight into Premiership action.

[Mafan]

Kieran Is Roy's Boy
Roy Keane wants to raid his former club Manchester United for Kieran Richardson. Bryan Robson also has Richardson on his wish list at Sheffield United, but Keane intends to elbow his ex-Reds pal aside in the race to land the England winger. Robbo knows the player well from their time together at West Brom. Richardson, 22, is frustrated at failing to win a first-team place at Old Trafford and admitted for the first time this week that he could quit United. This has alerted Keane and the Sunderland boss hopes to lure Richardson to Wearside with the prospect of regular Premiership football.
David Anderson, Daily Mirror


Hope roy or bryan take this guy away from man u.

[dom01]

ern... good... I tot keane dun like him. Perhaps keane can hv saha too..

Personally, i really like one brudder's interpretation on saha (Saha Admitted Hospital Again) Damm.. it is good.

[Castrol]

Originally Posted by mr_missile

The Daily Mail agrees with the Spurs angle, announcing on its back page that 'Tottenham have joined the race for ?million-rated Manchester United forward Alan Smith.'

spurs will play with 4 strikers in every match next season if bent and smith are both signed...