UNITEDVIEW
NEWS
Updated daily
MACARI BACKS VALENCIA
Lou Macari is confident that Antonio Valencia will have a positive impact on the team following his arrival from Wigan. Valencia is United's first signing of the summer, and with him being a right winger many United fans see him as Ronaldo's replacement.
His performances for Wigan have impressed many, and Macari says that Valencia has the opportunity to fully develop into a brilliant player now that he's at United.
"There have been lots of rumours but of all the names that were mentioned, Valencia was one that I thought would come off. Valencia's played his part for Wigan, now he's got to do it at Old Trafford. Over the years, there have been players who have done well at other clubs but then it hasn't really happened for them at United. It's a wait and see job, to see how Valencia adjusts to life at Old Trafford, but it's a great opportunity for him.
"A couple of years ago he was doing nothing, but since coming to the Premier League, he's made his mark with Wigan and he'll be hoping to make his mark at Manchester United."
"I think Premier League experience is a big help. When you bring in any player from any league, regardless of that player's quality, he's still got to do it in the Premier League which is probably the hardest league in the world to play in week in, week out. "
"Lots of players come here and don't do it so it's great that he has already played in the top flight in this country. There have been other names that I don't see any chance of coming to Old Trafford. When you're talking about players costing 40 or 50 million pounds, they're certainly not on their way to Manchester as far as I'm concerned."
BET FERGIE WON'T SIGN A STRIKER AT ALL
Could Manchester United start the new season with Wayne Rooney and Dimi Berbatov as their first-choice strikeforce and just Macheda and Danny Welbeck as cover? The scenario has become a likelihood according to Fleet Street after Real Madrid's capture of Karim Benzema prompted a number of broadsheet newspapers to predict that, short of options and reluctant to pay over the odds, Sir Alex Ferguson will not reinforce his arsenal after missing out on Benzema.
A refusal to add to his strikeforce in the summer that he has lost both Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez would constitute one of the bravest/most remarkable gambles Ferguson has ever taken in his twenty-year reign at Old Trafford. However, Fleet Street is unanimous in its belief that Benzema's decision to move to Spain has left United reeling and short of options.
'Benzema's decision is a huge blow to United, who are understood to have made him their No 1 target after selling Ronaldo to Madrid for £80m,' reports The Daily Mail. 'It is also a further indication of both Madrid's ambition and the shift of power to the Spanish league.'
Only The Guardian says that United did not enter - and lose - a bidding war with Madrid for the French youngster. 'Ferguson's long-standing admiration for the 21-year-old Lyon player never manifested itself in the form of a concerted attempt to bring him to Old Trafford as a replacement for Carlos Tevez,' the newspaper claims. 'Instead, United have left Madrid unchallenged to add yet another striker to their already bloated squad.'
However, that soothing account is flatly contradicted by every other daily-selling publication. 'Once United became aware that Lyon had accepted Real's bid they then submitted an offer of 40 million euros (£35 million),' says The Daily Telegraph. 'However Benzema was already too far progressed in his discussions with Real, having also spoken to United, and the Spanish club were also willing to add extra payments, depending on targets and bonuses, which meant their bid came in slightly higher than United's.'
So
who does Ferguson turn to next? Probably nobody declares The Times in something
of a bombshell announcement:
'Ferguson, the United manager, has made it clear privately that he will not pay over the odds, or be forced into signing a striker if the right one is not available, just because of the departures of Ronaldo and Carlos Tévez.
'Some well-placed sources have claimed that Ferguson may not even sign a striker this summer and will instead look to Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov to spearhead United's attack next season. Injuries to either player, however, would leave his front line severely depleted.'
Although David Villa, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Sergio Agüero, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Samuel Eto'o and even Michael Owen are all mooted as possible alternatives for Ferguson to pursue, none is given a ringing endorsement.
Villa is expected to join Madrid or Barcelona if he does leave Valencia, Huntelaar's reputation has suffered in Spain, Agüero is considered over-priced at £38.6million, Ibrahimovic 'has rarely fired against the physical presence of English sides', while the age of the 28-year-old Eto'o counts against him, as does his African Nations Cup obligation in January. And Owen?
'The prospect is an intriguing one,' muses The Independent. 'Ferguson tried to sign the 29-year-old as a youngster and there have been rumours that he has returned with inquiries since. The £40,000 a week Owen might be prepared to accept will certainly not hurt United and there are enough attacking options at Old Trafford to make the risk of injuries to which Owen has become prone less of a problem than at most other clubs.
'A possibility, perhaps, but the good money now has to be on Ferguson not seeking further front line reinforcements.'
VALENCIA JOINS UNITED
United have completed the signing of Antonio Valencia from Wigan. The fee is undisclosed, however it is thought to be around £16m. Fergie has been looking at the winger for some time, and is glad to have finally got him.
"Antonio is a player we have admired for some time now, having spent the last two years in the Premier League with Wigan. I am sure his pace and ability will make a significant contribution to the team.”
Valencia is likely to have a lot of pressure on his shoulders, especially as many United fans see him as Ronaldo's replacement. Therefore he will be expected to be one of United's main attacking players, and to then score a lot of goals. However Valencia at the moment is just happy to have joined a club like United.
“Joining Manchester United is a dream come true for me. I have enjoyed my time at Wigan, but I am thrilled to have the chance to challenge for the biggest honours in club football here.
“Playing in front of 76,000 fans alongside players like Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs will be an amazing experience. I can’t wait to get started.”
RONALDO COMPLETES HIS MOVE TO REAL MADRID
Ronaldo has completed his move to Real Madrid, and today United recieved the full £80m. Fergie had this to say about Ronaldo's time at United:
“Cristiano
has been a marvellous player for Manchester United. His six years at Old
Trafford have seen him develop into the best footballer in the world. His
contribution has been a major factor in the club’s success in that
time and his talent, his ability to entertain and his infectious personality
have enthralled fans the world over.
“Everyone here wishes him well in his future career.”
UNITED MISS OUT ON BENZEMA
It was inevitable in the end. Benzema will not be joining United, and a move to Real Madrid is soon to be finalised. Lyon announced this on their website, and the fee will be around 35m Euros.
A statement their webiste said: 
"Olympique Lyonnais informed of an agreement with Real Madrid on the modalities of a transfer of its international striker Karim Benzema for an amount of minimum € 35 million which will add different bonuses related to sports performance, allowing achieve a maximum transfer of 41 million € net. "
"A few days ago, Karim Benzema has informed President Jean Michel Aulas of his desire to reach more quickly than he had originally envisioned the Madrid club which has always been his preference after OL. The player wanted to seize the opportunity offered to it by Real Madrid to be one of the major elements of his ambitious new policy around some of the biggest players in the world. "
TEVEZ CLAIMS HE SUFFERED AT UNITED
Well Tevez has really proved that his "I want to play for United" attitude was all just an act. After rejecting a deal that will make him one of United's highest earning players, Tevez has gone on to say that he suffered pain during his time at Old Trafford. . As well as this, many claim that he will be unveiled as a City player as early as next week.
Tevez says that Fergie made a big error by leaving him out of the starting lineup in the Champions League final.
"You cannot argue with Alex Ferguson. He is like the president of England. It is impossible, you always lose. But he made a mistake to leave me on the bench. That was the only final the team had lost since I had been at Manchester United."
"My family knows how much I suffered at United. I could not arrive home after a match or a training session and forget my pain. It was not good and I transmitted all my sadness to them."
FOURS YEARS ON AND NO CLEARER
RIOT police wielding batons, angry protests, makeshift barriers being erected by fans to stop an escape from Old Trafford and a final dash from the stadium in blacked out police vans - that was the Glazer family's welcome to United four years ago.
The Stars and Stripes was hurriedly hoisted above Old Trafford's famous stands to welcome the sons of new owner Malcolm Glazer as they looked around the acquisition that their dad had bought for them to run.
They were given a guided tour, conducted their one-and-only TV interview, or media interview of any sort, with the club's station MUTV, then jetted back home to in Florida.
The
Glazers left behind them the world's most famous club in turmoil. There
was suspicion, bitterness, outrage and anger. Overnight the owners of the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers had saddled a successful football club with £600m
worth of debt. The support was confused and concerned. The vocal anti-Glazer
brigade was already fed up with corporate Old Trafford. They had chronic
indigestion brought on by prawn sandwiches.
They may not have liked ex-chairman Martin Edwards, may have been uncomfortable with a Plc, might have been dubious about chief executives Peter Kenyon and David Gill's motives but being bought by a US family and immediately saddling the club with an astonishing debt was the last straw.
Some broke off to form FC United. Others ditched their long-held season tickets and vowed never to return to watch their beloved Reds. Others couldn't tear themselves away from a lifelong love affair with Manchester United and with a heavy heart stayed on to support the players and not the club. There were also the 'suck it and see' brigade who were prepared to reluctantly give the Glazers a chance and if the trophies and big-name players continued to come to Old Trafford then they'd stick around and let the businessmen worry about everything else.
If the stadium's name was untouched and Sir Alex Ferguson was given a free rein to buy and sell who he wanted, then they'd shelve their concerns over the debt. For many, the financial side was too complicated to get their heads around and so long as United were at the forefront of English and European football and challenging for the superstar signings and top prizes, then bank loans and hedge funds was a language they didn't want to get involved with.
There were also the day trippers who would remain 'loyal' so long as they could make their annual or twice year trip to Manchester, stock up at the Megastore, see their heroes in the flesh and return home laden with memorabilia and keep pledging their allegiance to the most successful side in the country. It was an unstable period with varying moods of ambivalence, hatred and hostility.
Once back across the Pond, MUTV aired the Glazers' interview on June 30 2005. The family spokesman was Joel Glazer who told the station: "Being involved in sports, being an owner in sports, nothing can prepare you for that. I think we've seen that here, it's something you learn as you go along. But the thing I think you appreciate and you learn as you go along is how important this club is to the community and to the country.
"So you have to take that very seriously, you have to show your commitment on the pitch. I think, the supporters appreciate if you're doing everything you can to put a successful team on the pitch.
"I
think people are forgiving if they know you are doing that, you're letting
people know what they're doing, whether it be, the football manager making
those decisions, or be the chief executive making his decisions, give them
the tools, give them what they need to do their jobs, which has always been
the case here. We're just gonna carry that on and make sure they have what
they need, and then the rest usually takes care of itself.
"We are gonna provide the manager with the resources necessary to field the best team on the field."
"So again when I read about caps and hands being tied it's very frustrating, absolutely not true we are there to provide the manager what he needs to compete at the highest and to win at the highest level. In any sport you can't plan to have caps. Situations arise, things change you have to.
"We will not get involved with this from the start unless we can compete at the highest level not having our hands tied, so when you read about that you get kind of very upset you wanna let people know that's not the case.
"The way this club has been operating in the past is gonna be the way it's gonna operate in the future. And one of the other great things about this club is when they've gone to in the transfer market it's been for the right reasons not just to do it for the sake of a headline and that will continue.
"The other great thing about this club is the history, the academy and bringing up young players through the academy on to the pitch. There's a connection with that kind of situation that you don't get anywhere else and it's because the player grew up with the club and the connection has always been there and that's special.
"I know that that is a priority of this club and that will continue."
It didn't exactly calm the mood totally and a great deal of suspicion remains but you can hardly say they've lied with their promises. The Glazers walked into an on-field transitional period at the club that was none of their making. The Reds were knocked out of the Champions League, finishing bottom of their group, six months after the controversial takeover.
There was upheaval in the dressing room with Roy Keane quitting and Ruud van Nistelrooy being told to leave. But the Glazers remained silent, gave Fergie carte blanche to do what was needed to take the club into another era. Their silence may have annoyed fans and irritated journalists but nobody could accuse them of meddling.
They turned up for the big occasions and went home. Inevitably, there were season ticket increases, but likely as not they would have happened anyway, but new players arrived and Fergie was given the materials to mould another successful chapter for the club.
Three Premier League titles, a European Cup and two Carling Cups have made their way to Old Trafford since the Glazers arrived. If you had been transported to a desert island before the takeover upheaval and returned once the new regime was underway, chances are that in June 2009 you wouldn't notice much of a difference at Old Trafford.
Of course, that £600m debt, still hangs over the club like a black cloud with nobody quite knowing where or what it will eventually lead the club into. However, neither the passive, compliant sections of the United support nor the proactive faction can argue four years on that they were right or wrong.
Those who said it would be business as usual might feel slightly more smug but those who harboured concerns are still waiting for the potential financial disaster around the corner.
Manchester Evening News
ROONEY READY FOR THE CHALLENGE
With the departures of Carlos Tevez and Ronaldo, United fans will be relying heavily on Rooney as United's main attacking player next season. Rooney is confident that he and the rest of the squad are ready to step up to the plate, and continue the success they have enjoyed over the past few years.
“We’ve lost two key players and obviously I hope we can get a few players in. Between them Cristiano and Carlos scored a lot of goals for us last season and the season before, but I would like to think I’m capable of filling that gap.
"Cristiano is such a talent, he can score from anywhere, so you try to accommodate him. As a team, we accommodated him because we knew he could win matches for us. Now he has gone, we will have to score more goals between us. But I feel like I’m capable of scoring a lot of goals. If I can play in my right position, I’m capable of doing that."
Losing the best player in the world might end up having a positive effect on the squad in general, and especially Rooney. For a number of years Rooney has had to play in less favoured positions to allow Ronaldo to have more freedom on the pitch. However he is now hopeful that next season he will be allowed to play in his best position.
“I want to play in the position where I feel I’m best. A lot of people think I’m best as a centre forward. To play in a Champions League final and to play week in, week out for Manchester United is a privilege and it’s something I’m very lucky to be doing, but I don’t think playing on the wing I can express myself as much as I like to.”
FERGIE FACING TOUGH DECISIONS
Sir Alex Ferguson returns to Carrington this week knowing for once his own transfer dealings threaten to be overshadowed by the blue half of Manchester. The most significant event of Ferguson's annual three-week break in the south of France was sanctioning the £80million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.
It came as no surprise to learn Wayne Rooney feels the astonishing world-record transfer can work to his advantage. Most observers feel the same. However, the departure of the man who currently holds the title of world number one cannot be transformed into a positive story without some significant additions to Ferguson's squad.
For all the Scot's posturing last year, including the famous quote that he would not sell Real Madrid "a virus", he is far too astute and wise not to conclude from his conversations with Ronaldo last season there was a decent possibility the winger might leave Old Trafford this summer.
A contingency plan would have been drawn up, which Franck Ribery was supposedly part of if statements that came out of Bayern Munich were to be believed. However, it is by no means certain Ribery will leave Munich this summer, still less so that Old Trafford will be his eventual destination.
A move for Wigan's Antonio Valencia was always likely to meet with more success and the final touches are now being put to a deal that will set United back around £16million. A player who scored just three Premier League goals last term might be able to replicate the pace and dribbling ability of Ronaldo. However, Valencia might struggle to come anywhere near his prowess in front of goal, a factor emphasised at the JJB Stadium last month when the Ecuador flyer missed a sitter in the defeat to United.
The loss of Carlos Tevez presents an additional problem, even if the Argentina ace was not worth the money United were being asked to spend to secure his services on a permanent basis.
Like Ribery, Karim Benzema has been touted as a potential replacement but has suggested he would prefer to go elsewhere, and even then in a year's time. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is another option but the Dutchman is more of a Ruud van Nistelrooy-type figure and Ferguson has been building his teams in a different way.
At
the back of Ferguson's mind will also be the knowledge Ryan Giggs, Paul
Scholes and Edwin van der Sar are all preparing for what is expected to
be their final seasons of top-flight action, with Gary Neville not far behind.
Twelve months ago, United appeared to have the replacements ready but doubts have emerged over Nani (poor form), Anderson (over-run in the Champions League final) and Ben Foster (injury). That leaves Ferguson with more big decisions to make, especially as further question marks exist over Owen Hargreaves, who is hoping to return from two years wrecked by a tendinitis problem, and record signing Dimitar Berbatov, so inconsistent in his debut season.
None of this will phase the United boss. After nearly 23 years at the Red Devils helm he is beyond that, or being concerned by what is happening at City.
Of more concern will be keeping ahead of Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal to seal an unprecedented fourth successive league title, and reaching a third Champions League final in succession to show United are a better side than the one beaten so clinically by Barcelona in Rome. And if Ferguson reaches September 1 with Valencia still his only new face, more than a few United fans will be slightly concerned.
Football 365
HEADS AS BIG AS THEIR SALARIES
Forget trophy wives. It’s all about big houses these days. And few places can match the mansions which increasingly grace South Manchester’s countryside.
Manchester United… you either love them or you hate them. Although when you see their houses, bragging boulevard-sized driveways swathed in Bentleys and Jags, but concealed behind an imposing eight foot security gate, ostentatiously erected to thwart the prying eyes of the paparazzi, you are inclined to feel for the latter, provoked of course by pangs of jealousy.
Perhaps the most elaborate house in Prestbury, currently the chicest village in the “Gold Trafford” circle, unsurprisingly belongs to Mr and Mrs Rooney. Veiled behind a mesh of dauntingly tall fences, security cameras and many of Prestbury’s leafy old trees, this three-storey, multi-million pound mansion embraces neo-Georgian pillars, six en-suite bedrooms, an indoor pool and cinema and three garages.
It is fortunate that this house, whose size rivals that of stately homes, is masked behind a shield of both natural and man-made objects. Few would refer to the building as tasteful and many would say it disturbs the natural fabric of the historical, old-English village.
And purchases like this tend to have a snowball effect, as many of Rooney’s teammates have also chosen to reside in this idyllic rural locality and erect glamorous new “trophy homes”. Wes Brown recently turned down two-million-pound “Bentley House”, an impressive three-storey mansion in Prestbury, which keeps his property portfolio in the village down at just one. These affluent Cheshire towns such as Wilmslow, Hale, Prestbury and Alderly Edge, which have pertinently been labeled “Gold Trafford”, have been made infamous and arguably even more prosperous by the arrival of players from one of the biggest football teams in the world.
In the late 1940s, Salford-born Don Whitehead used to play for the MUJACs, Manchester United’s Junior Athletic Club. The 76-year-old who now lives in Wilmslow, in the “Gold Trafford” circle, remembers Brian Birch who played with him at Salford Boys in the 1940s. Birch went on to sign for Manchester United where he had a successful career as a midfielder. Whitehead remembers bumping into the midfielder after he had just returned from a tour of North America. The ex-Man United youth player peevishly recalled,
“Dressed in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat Birch complained bitterly to me of only being paid £20 a week by Manchester United. I was earning 29 shillings and sixpence a week as a metalworker apprentice and I remember thinking at the time that Brian Birch was ‘a right old bighead’”.
Although £20 a week in the 1940s was considered a large amount of money, it is not today’s equivalent of £120,000 a week, the sum Carlos Tevez is reportedly earning after agreeing to stay at Old Trafford. Tracing Manchester United football player’s property purchasing habits since the 1960s highlights just how dramatically their earnings have risen during the last 50 years. They are not just keeping pace with inflation.
In the 1960s Manchester United had all the success and attraction they enjoy today, boosted particularly in 1968 when they were the first English club to win the European cup. But whilst the Busby Babes may have been elaborate on the pitch, they did not have the houses to match.
The Quadrant area of the working-class town of Stretford, a stone’s throw from Manchester city centre, was the popular choice of residence of these football stars of the 60s. Bill Billington has been a resident of the Quadrant neighborhood for over 50 years, and in the 60s shared the vicinity with Manchester United’s Shay Brennan – the Wes Brown of today – and midfielder Paddy Crerand. Laughing nostalgically, the Manchester United fan spoke of a particular occasion in his local The Quadrant pub in 1963 when United had been beaten by Arsenal by two goals to three.
Denis Law, the “king of Old Trafford”, who had been signed to United for a record breaking £119,000 – a figure his present counterparts now receive in a week – was enjoying a pint in the pub with teammate Bobby Charlton. Bill Billington fondly reminisced,
“I couldn’t believe it when my mate said to Denis Law ‘we haven’t won a thing since signing you!”
Mixing with ordinary people and drinking in locals is something the football stars of today rarely do. In the 60s they had a “normalness” that could also be found in their houses. However pleasant and polished the semi-detached houses in the Quadrant are, they do not exactly possess the grandeur and stateliness of Rooney’s fortress. Unpretentiously normal Ryebank Road in Stretford reflects the sensational Busby Babes of the 60s, un-sensational houses and salaries to match.
Perhaps it was Manchester United’s most legendary
icon that broke away from the regular residential habits of his teammates,
by purchasing a swish and swanky property in Woodford, a pastorally attractive
area of Cheshire. 
George
Best was never one to conform to normality and his house in Woodford during
the 1970s reflected his extravagant personality with its enormous glass
doors, towering steal fence and swimming pool. Although compared to the
players of today, even the late wayward legend’s home could be considered
relatively humble.
Ron Atkinson’s United of the 80s saw a few players moving deeper into the heart of Cheshire and discovering the flush and fruitful Prestbury. Although it did not have the same exclusivity that it does today, Prestbury has always been a wealthy suburb and in the late 70s and early 80s Manchester United’s star striker Joe Jordan, with his infamous toothless scowl, owned a nice but modest detached house there.
This “modesty” can be traced back to the 1990s when a younger Alex Ferguson first made his presence felt at the club. During this decade, a novel, little housing estate in Cheshire’s blossoming Bramhall was the fashionable place for the players to live and housed almost half the Manchester United team. Peter Schmeical, Paul Ince and captain Steve Bruce all owned houses on the modern and affluent estate, which had two fake security men stationed either side of the entrance. Although these big detached houses were extremely grand and impressive, compared to “Rooney’s Palace”, they were submissively bland.
So when did footballer’s salaries reach the dizzy heights that could rival the flamboyant pillars of their houses? And exactly how much money are these players bringing home each month?
The amount of money football generates has drastically shot up, especially it seems within the last decade. At the beginning of the 1990s, Manchester United’s chairman, Martin Edwards, was near to selling a controlling share in the club for a measly £10 million. Ten years later, the media mogul Rupert Murdoch was prepared to give £600 million for the super club.
According to the Annual Review of Football Finance, the average wage pf a football player increased by nine per cent during the 2005/06 season – a rise that is blatantly not in keeping with inflation.
During this season the English Premier League generated the greatest revenue of all football leagues in the world. Mainly through broadcast rights and global marketing, the English premiership is the richest league in the world. Like the American Football League did in 1994, the Football Association has warned a salary cap may need to be enforced in English football.
During the past two years there has been 12 percent annual growth in the wages of football players and the FA’s chairman Lord Triesman believes wage levels have damaging consequences on English football and given the current global credit crisis, may no longer be sustainable.
Last year a Portuguese financial website published the top 50 highest earning footballer players in the world. Predictably, the English, Spanish and Italian clubs dominated the list. AC Milan’s Ricardo Kaka was reported to be the highest earning player netting an astonishing 9,000,000 euros a year. Superrich club Chelsea had four of their players feature in the top ten and Manchester United’s richest player was reported the tenth highest earning football player in the world and was unsurprisingly Christiano Ronaldo. In 2008 the Portuguese superstar earned 640,000 euros a month, which equates to 7,680,000 euros a year in gross wages alone, not including any earnings from sponsorships or advertising. Two paces behind him in 12th place was teammate Wayne Rooney who last year brought home a monthly wage packet of 610,000 euros, a staggering 7,320,000 euros a year.
It is little wonder therefore that Wayne and Colleen
can afford to have a comfortable five-bedroom family house in Prestbury
demolished and brazenly replaced with a monstrously imposing mock-Georgian
manor.
Are today’s players so undeniably “gifted” that they deserve
such a colossal salary? England’s Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe
was recently criticized for referring to John Terry’s salary as “obscene”.
Chelsea’s billionaire boss defended his captain’s salary, saying:
“There’s so much more money coming into the game, surely it’s only fair the players get a share of it?”
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson also disapproved of Sutcliffe’s comment and argued that other sportsmen and women also receive very high salaries but they do not seem to create the same level of debate and condemnation. According to Sir Alex,
“It is very easy to say that footballers get paid too much. In some cases I would not argue with that. However there are also some tennis players who get great sponsorship deals but never win a tournament.”
And not winning tournaments is one thing Manchester United cannot be accused of. Whether or not their mansions are as glittering as their football is questionable.
Today, the finances of football have changed enormously and top footballers are considered in a different light than they were 30 years ago. Through advertising and sponsorship, some players become “brands”, namely David Beckham. The only player that came close to this level of notoriety was of course George Best.
World-class players have been elevated to superstar status and the likes of Wayne Rooney, a kid with working class roots who has become a millionaire before reaching 25, is going to live in the most “glamorous” house money can buy. And it is because of their multi-million pound salaries, which seem to be growing every week, that more and more “Rooney-type” haciendas are sprouting up across the plain lands of Cheshire and beyond.
Russia Times
NEW KIT UNVIELED
United have revealed the new home kit for the 2009/10 campaign. The black chevron across the chest is there to celebrate 100 years of Old Trafford, copying a similar design used in the 1909/10 when the stadium was used for the first time.
The kit was made by Nike Dri-Fit fabric, which is supposed to keep the players cooler and feel lighter by drawing sweat from the body unto the fabric. Meanwhile it's three-dimensional construction gives more air space around the skin to reduce clinging.
The new kit will be worn for the first time during the pre-season tour of Asia next month, with the release date being on July 16th. Rooney is looking forward to playing in the new kit.
"It's always exciting to see the new kit. It's important that we like it and get used to it before the season starts [on tour]. I'm really excited about playing in it."
Park Ji Sung added:
"It always feels great to put the kit on and there is always a great meaning behind our kits. History is very important at this club and it’s something all the players are aware of.
"I really like the chevron feature – I like to think of it as ‘V’ for victory and hopefully we can win every game we play in the new kit."
PAUL PARKER'S TRANSFER TARGETS
The big question this summer centres on how Manchester United should spend the money they are to get from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.
£80 million is a huge amount of money but such are the inflated sums demanded once selling clubs know it is United who are interested, it is difficult to name a single player linked with a move to Old Trafford who is actually worth what he is being offered for.
Take the £40m price tag that has been slapped
on Karim Benzema's head. Surely the Lyon striker cannot be worth that much?
For that kind of money, you expect a proven world-class player, a must-have
addition to any squad. I haven't seen enough from Benzema, or Franck Ribery
for that matter, to suggest either is that kind of player. But cut the prices
being talked about - to about what both were worth two years ago - and it's
a different matter. Whether the £80m for 
Ronaldo
comes United's way in instalments is yet to be seen, but even if it comes
in one lump sum, United are under no obligation to spend it all at once.
But it's clear that United do need to spend some this summer.
Alex Ferguson may well have brought through a great crop of youngsters in 1995, but the current lot is not in the same league. Fourteen years ago, stalwarts Mark Hughes, Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis left the club, prompting fears the boss had lost the plot and United were about to enter free-fall.
I was in the side that lost to Aston Villa on the opening day of that season, leading to the now infamous "you'll win nothing with kids" comment from Alan Hansen. But we went on to win the Double that season, thanks in no small part to the contributions of those youngsters who went on to dominate English football for years to come.
Ferguson has always invested in youth, but I just don't think what he has at his disposal at the moment is capable of emulating the likes of Beckham, Neville, Butt, Scholes et al.
It was different back then. Players were treated differently - more was demanded from youngsters and people were not afraid of having a go at them if they did not pull their weight. There was an expectation to see them bounce back and prove people wrong if any criticism was levelled at them. Those players were mentally tough, and it showed in how that season panned out. But the current crop don't seem to have the same mentality.
A prime example is Nani, who should be ready-made replacement on the right for Ronaldo, but he still has a lot to do - he needs to improve about 50 per cent - before he can assume his Portuguese compatriot's mantle. He's been at United for two seasons now but has shown little sign of improvement during that time. He needs to start reminding the club of the reasons - 14 million of them - why they bought him in the first place.
On the other flank, Zoran Tosic has shown much promise, especially for Serbia in this summer's Euro U21s, but I don't think he is ready to make the step up just yet. That said, the only way he'll improve is if he is around quality players - much like the kids benefitted from Eric Cantona in 1995 - and being involved with the first team next season will only help to bring him on.
Up front, Danny Welbeck has performed in fits and starts only and you cannot hang a hat on him at that level. Likewise young Italian Federico Macheda. However, one player who stands out from the rest of the youngsters is Fraizer Campbell. Which rather begs the question: why are United selling him?
Campbell is an old-fashioned striker - he never stops running, he knows where the goal is and he respects his team-mates. I've seen enough of him to think he deserves a chance at Old Trafford. In my opinion, it's too early to sell him. Is he really going to improve at Hull City? I'd like to see him stay and be given a chance.
If any of the youngsters deserve a run in the first team - not just a game here and a game there, but a proper run of four or five games - it's Campbell.
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