Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is considering a move for French international youngster Mamadou Sakho  as he continues to plan for the future but may find that he has a battle on his hands as Arsenal are known to be monitoring the progress of the Paris St Germain defender.

Having brought in young starlets Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez this summer there is a definite sense that the Old Trafford boss is looking to bring in young talents instead of spending astronomical sums on established players. Whether this is as a result of the financial problems the Premier League side is experiencing or not those two buys already look like very good investments.

Mamadou Sakho has stated his desire to leave his Ligue 1 side and has had a number of run in with journalists in France leading many to believe that the talented Parisian could be ready to make a move away from the club he has been at since the age of 12.

Valued at around £12m Sakho has been a solid performer in his last two seasons at the Parc des Princes and has fought his way to the fringes of the senior French side and is considered one of the hot prospects of European football. He is an adaptable defender who is immense in the centre of defence but can also do a good job at left back.

SIR Alex Ferguson has expressed his concerns over injury stricken England skipper Rio Ferdinand, admitting: “He’s nowhere near fitness.”

The 31-year-old damaged medial knee ligaments at England’s Royal Bafokeng World Cup base camp, unable to kick a single ball during the tournament.

It had been hoped that the central defender would come into the reckoning for United’s opening Premier League games of the season, starting tomorrow night at Old Trafford against Newcastle United.

But last night Ferguson revealed that there is still plenty of work ahead for Ferdinand if he is to put behind him his injury nightmare of the past year. The United boss said: “He is nowhere near fitness. He’s doing little bits of jogging and things like that. He’s at least a month away.

“It was a knee ligament injury and it was a bad one. It’s going to take time. There was no detachment or rupture of the ligament which was a blessing.”

Ferdinand missed games last season with problems surrounding his back. Ferguson added: “He has had a bad 12 months but he is okay mentally.”

The United boss believes that Ferdinand should take encouragement during his darkest days from the long serving Gary Neville.

He said: “You don’t want to see players getting a succession of injuries when they are in their thirties. Gary Neville had an incredible number of muscular injuries but has kept on coming back. Rio will take encouragement from the way Gary Neville has handled his problems.

“Hopefully this lay off will help his other problems settle down.”

Wayne Rooney suffered a tight hamstring during England’s friendly against Hungary on Wednesday night but with United not playing until tomorrow night it’s given the striker a better chance of being involved against Newcastle.

United seem to be unwilling to meet Werder Bremen’s £12 million valuation on Oezil, who starred in the World Cup, despite Ferguson being spotted at Craven Cottage last week when Fulham played host to the German club in a pre-season friendly.

Oezil is in the last year of his contract at Werder Bremen and it is believed United will not want to pay more than £8m, which has given Chelsea and Real Madrid the edge in the race to sign the playmaker.

Now it seems Ferguson is looking towards signing Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles to help bolster his squad.

United have been quoted £15m for the 27 year old midfielder which is more than Ferguson wants to pay, but with the transfer of Ozil looking unlikely Ferguson might have to increase his offer for the Porto star.

Despite an off-season without big transfer activity, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was defiant to those who predict that his team will fall out of the Premier League’s top four this season.

After losing out on a record 19th league title by just one point to Chelsea last term, United only added Javier Hernandez, Chris Smalling and Bebe to the squad this summer.

With arch-rivals Manchester City again spending exorbitantly in the transfer market this summer, some believe that United will have to fight just to make the Champions League next season.

Ferguson is perplexed that some would make that prediction, and the United manager is confident that his side will prove their doubters wrong this season.

"We can take encouragement from the fact that with the injuries we had to defenders last year, if we'd had them all fit we could have won the league I think," Ferguson told The Telegraph.

"I'm quite content and I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist about what's happened in pre-season, with press speculation and all the rest of it. They've never been right on anything.

"Quite a few have not got us in the top four this year. Because we've been so successful for so many years, there's a bit of hope that if we don't get in the top four they've got something to write about.

"United not to be in the top four? You have to worry about what upbringing they had or what kind of porridge they've had."

United will open their Premier League campaign against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Monday, looking to start their run for a 19th league title by taking three points against the newly promoted side.

in HD.. nice.

LOL. Barthez... i wonder where he is now..

I wonder where's Silves after he was free by Arsenal last season

Manchester United has signed a deal with Hong Kong firm PCCW for it to become the telecoms and broadcast partner of the club in the region.

The club says it is the first such deal it has signed there, adding to its growing number of overseas deals.

it means PCCW's Now TV, Hong Kong's largest pay-TV provider, will for three years be the official broadcaster of football club channel MUTV.

The service from PCCW will also be available online and on mobile phone.

PCCW and Manchester United have also jointly developed a promotional microsite, in Chinese and English, for local Man Utd fans.

The club is looking to extend its number of sponsorship and partnership deals in different global geographic markets.
Fan campaign

Earlier this year, the club saw off a mooted takeover bid by a group of businessmen dubbed the Red Knights.

Many fans, unhappy about the ownership of the club by the American Glazer family, have been running the green-and-gold campaign opposing their tenure.

However, manager Sir Alex Ferguson recently said that, while having "no problems" with the campaign, he did not want to see "United mired in so much controversy that it deflects our purpose of winning matches".

In May, the firm announced a cut in debt, from £543.3m a year previously to £520.9m for the January-to-March period.

Its quarterly financial results also showed net assets of £794.9m and a cash balance of £95.9m.

The Old Trafford club said that in the nine months to March, year-on-year revenues were up 13.5% from £193.3m to £219.3m.

In January, it was revealed that debts at the parent company of the club had increased to £716.5m.

Mancini, in Romania ahead of City's Europa League play-off first-leg tie against FC Timisoara on Thursday night, said that his Abu Dhabi-funded summer recruitment drive had now concluded – with the bill totalling a staggering £126 million – following Milner's arrival at Eastlands.

With owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan's cash reserves now left to accumulate interest until January, Mancini's priority over the final 12 days of the transfer window will be address the City futures of the likes of Robinho and Shay Given, with the Irish goalkeeper in 'turmoil' over whether to remain at the club or seek first-team football elsewhere.


Yet City's mammoth spending spree, which has seen the glittering names of David Silva, Yaya Touré and Mario Balotelli sign for the club this summer, has been viewed by many within the game as distorting the market and inflating player valuations to nonsensical levels.

Ferguson did not openly direct his comments at City, but kamikaze or not, Mancini claims that United have also done their share of big spending in recent years.

Mancini said: "It is not important for me [what Ferguson says]. I respect his opinion, but Manchester United, like Manchester City, have spent a lot of money in the past.

"I think that all the other teams have spent a lot of money in the past. I don't mean 15 years ago, but in the last one, two or three years.

"It is normal that, when you want to buy a good player you have to spend money. This is the market.

"I have bought six players and, for now, I think we have finished in the market. I am very happy to have James [Milner] with us and everyone knows we have admired him for some time. He is a good player, one who can play in every position and we need that."

Milner, for his part, has immediately set his sights on winning the Premier League title with his new employers. "[Mancini] said to me, 'Be ready to win the Premier League', and that's my ultimate aim - that's what I want to do and why I'm here," he said.

Mancini, who at least helped trim the Eastlands wage bill by offloading Stephen Ireland as an £8 million makeweight in the Milner deal, is likely to recoup further funds for Sheikh Mansour before the Aug 31 transfer deadline.

Felipe Caicedo has departed for West Ham, while Schalke, Besiktas and Fenerbahce are plotting moves for Robinho, who remains, at £32.5 million, British football's most expensive signing.

The future of Given is a thorny issue for Mancini, however. The Italian had been ready to play the former Newcastle keeper against Timisoara on Thursday night, but with the 34 year-old torn between staying and moving elsewhere, Mancini has opted instead to continue with Joe Hart in goal.

Fulham are ready to move for Given once Mark Schwarzer leaves the club for Arsenal, while Celtic are also monitoring his situation.

Yet despite the prospect of a lengthy spell on the bench as understudy to Hart, Given has yet to resolve his own thoughts on his future.

A source close to Given said: "Shay is confused and torn over what to do. He only joined City 18 months ago and wanted to win things after 10 years at Newcastle.

"But he just wants to play and he doesn't see Mancini leaving Hart out now, even if he makes a mistake. He'll want to stand by his man.

"Shay is watching the situation with the goalkeepers at Arsenal at Fulham.

A loan move might be something he'd consider but he's finding it really difficult to know what to do.

"The last thing he wants to do is risk his place in the Ireland team as he knows they have a great chance of qualifying for Euro 2012."

Given has been reassured by Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni that he will remain his country's No 1 even if he remains at City. Trapattoni said: "I spoke with Shay. He has a good mentality and he is a strong man.

"He will play for me. It is not hard because we have other players who are not playing for their clubs."

Hart, the England goalkeeper, will be part of a strong team fielded by Mancini in the Dan Paltinisanu Stadium, although full-back Aleksandar Kolarov will not play after being ruled out for six weeks with an ankle injury.

Timisoara, currently lying fifth, 10 points adrift of leaders CFR Cluj in Romania's Liga 1, have been billed as their country's version of City, with coach Vladimir Petrovic's squad assembled at a cost of €20 million by Marian Iancu, the owner of Balkan Petroleum.

And with victory guaranteeing the winners of the tie a place in the Europa League group stages, Iancu is offering leading players a bonus of up to €100,000 if they can eliminate their Premier League opponents.

Welcome to the new season and let’s hope it is a good one. I believe that it will be because we have a good squad, and you can judge how much faith I have in it by the fact that I have not been bidding big in the transfer market this summer.

It’s not because of a lack of money, just a genuine belief in the number and quality of the guys who are already at Old Trafford. With two or three notable exceptions, it is overall a young squad and our priority is to develop them and enable them to come through together. I don’t need to add to my selection problems by bringing in too many players, only to be forced to then send them out on loan so that they can get a game.

Our striker department is a case in point. With the arrival of young Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez – an opportunity impossible to let go – and Portuguese forward Bebe, a young developer and the type of player we are always on the lookout for, we now have eight forwards. We have three seniors in Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen and five young players – our two new signings plus Federico Macheda, Mame Diouf and Danny Welbeck. I can’t play eight, but they are all ready for first-team football and have great potential, yet people talk about us needing a new frontman. As it is, I have had to send Welbeck and Diouf out on loan, though only to senior clubs in keeping with their abilities, and they will come back better players.

In the meantime we will aim to replicate that golden era of a few years ago when we had Yorke, Cole, Sheringham and Solskjaer working in pairs and scoring for fun. I know that fans like to see a big-name signing, and I understand that, but when you have the players you want, there comes a point where the best policy is to work with them. There is, of course, the matter of the older players, but we are working on that. I see Antonio Valencia and Nani as the natural successors to the Giggs role. Replacing Paul Scholes is more difficult, even impossible, but we do have players already at the club capable of responding to that challenge.

Among the goalkeepers, Edwin van der Sar will be 40 this year, but with Ben Foster now away Tomasz Kuszczak will get more of a chance to stake his claim. In the longer term we have high hopes for young Ben Amos, who is improving all the time.

I have been pleased with our pre-season preparations. The American trip was long and tiring, but provided some good opportunities for the younger players. And there didn’t seem tobe any ill effects when we got back home and beat Chelsea to win the Community Shield. It’s a trophy that is not the be all and end all of a season, but it is always better to win it than lose it.

There were some good signs with some impressive goals, though I doubt whether Chicharito will score too many like his Wembley effort, with a sliced shot that went in off his own head. It was good to see the old hands doing well, too, with Edwin outstanding in goal and Paul Scholes named man of the match. Clearly, they are not ready to take a back seat just yet.

There is just one situation that clouds the new season as far as I am concerned, and that is the continued opposition to the Glazer family, our owners. I have no problem with the green and gold campaign. Fans are entitled to protest as they think fit, but not, I suggest, to the detriment of the team. The fact is that the Glazer family own Manchester United and until such time as they decide they want to sell, they will stay as owners regardless of the opposition. So it comes down to the extent of the protest. As I say, everyone is entitled to take a view, but what I don’t want to see is Manchester United mired in so much controversy that it deflects our purpose of winning matches.Whenever we have had success it has been a collective effort with everyone united – management, players and fans. How many times have I commented in the past for the need to pull together, and for the supporters to get behind the team when we have been faced with a particularly difficult challenge?

There is no doubt that players respond and relish support. We have had some great European nights at Old Trafford, and I wouldn’t like to see anything develop that would diminish that kind of backing. I see that one of the protest groups has come up with a new slogan along the lines of ‘New season, same goal’. I know what they have in mind, but I just wish they meant that once again we will all be united, busting a gut to win something big; in that sense it’s not a bad slogan.

People get so passionate and possessive about their football that they become part of the fabric of their club and feel that they own it. So it’s difficult for them when someone from outside, with no involvement except a financial one, usurps them. But we must stay together if we are to enjoy success, and that’s something I think we can agree we all want.

Manchester City boss, Roberto Mancini, hilariously claimed that his first year in charge would be the year City ended their trophy drought, which has gone on for longer than three decades.

First he said they would beat Manchester United in the League Cup and therefore take away our ticker banner which commemorates just how many years it’s been since they last won silverware.

“When we go to Old Trafford, we will take that banner down,” Mancini said. “This is the last year [it will be displayed] because we will win.”

City fans believed him and prepared for the League Cup final at the end of February. However, the League Cup tie ended the same way the league home and away fixtures did, with United scoring the winning goal in injury time, and then going on to lift the trophy.

Mancini then put City fans’ hopes in to the FA Cup, but that too ended in disappointed for the blues, with them losing 3-1 to 11th placed Stoke away in a replay after drawing with 10-man Stoke at home. The travelling support that day turned on their manager whilst blue message boards called for his head.

‘Bobby Manc’, as he is affectionately known by City fans, is prattling on with more rubbish today, trying to compare United’s spending of the past with City’s current spending, in light of Ferguson’s kamikaze comment.

“It’s not important, this for me,” Mancini said. “I respect his [Ferguson’s] opinion. Manchester United are like Manchester City, they have spent a lot of money in the past.”

Now, we’re not trying to claim that United haven’t spent big money in the past, because of course we have. Most recently, Dimitar Berbatov cost us £30m (2008), Wayne Rooney cost £27m (2004), Rio Ferdinand cost £29m (2002) and Juan Sebastian Veron cost £28m (2001) and these are the players that are throw at us. It is extremely rare that United would go out in one summer and spend a fortune though, as City have done. The summer ahead of the 2007-2008 season probably stands out, when Nani, Anderson and Hargreaves all joined, but it’s not a habit of United’s.

In Sir Alex Ferguson’s time at the club, we’ve always had a share of academ products, bargains and expensive players. That has always been the model. The likes of Darren Fletcher, Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs all appear in the top 100 appearances for our club in its entire history. In contrast, Mancini booted out one of City’s few remaining former academy players, Stephen Ireland, forcing City’s player of the year 2009 to train with the Reserves before he left. Classy joint.

Regardless, City have been the highest spending club for the past three consecutive summers. In contrast, United have been the highest spending club for a total of four summers and never three summers in a row. City have totally blitzed the market in a way that United never have in Ferguson’s reign. In 2007, our highest ever spending season, we spent £52m, half of what City have spent in just one of their three high spending summers. For Mancini to then compare our spending is as ridiculous as he looked on derby day last year in the baking sunshine wearing that scarf.

Several weeks ago, rumours surfaced on internet boards that Manchester United were on the verge of signing Dutch winger Gyliano van Velzen. No official announcement was made, but reports in the Netherlands today revealed that the transfer has been completed.

The player then basically shared on twitter that he was with United and  Manchester United have now confirmed that they have signed the player, although an announcement has yet to be made.

Van Velzen looks a giant at the tender age of 16 and is a left-footed, left-sided winger, which is a rare commodity these days. He is a product of the legendary Ajax academy and only turned 16 on the 14th of March.

I wish the lad well and hope to see him do well in the academy.

Surname: van Velzen
First name: Gyliano
Gyliano van Velzen Date of birth: 14.04.1994
Age-group: 1994
Nationality: Netherlands
Position: Forward / Winger