This has easily been the slowest day for Manchester United news since I started writing the Stretty Stories. The big news is United’s plans to offer Vidic a new deal in order to secure his Old Trafford future. Also in the news is Sir Alex’s rumored interest in Steven Defour and Welbeck being linked with a Sunderland loan.
Despite Sir Alex insisting he is happy with the squad, United continues to be linked with players. I’m curious to see how many of you think there is still some business to be done.
Vidic to be offered improved deal – The Guardian
Less than a day after Sir Alex placed more uncertainty on Nemanja Vidic’s future, The Guardian is now reporting that Manchester United are prepared to offer him a new contract. With Real Madrid rumored to be interest in the Serbian centre back, United are now prepared to offer him a two-year extension would would take his weekly wages from £70,000 to £90,000. As one of the world’s premier defenders the raise is probably both fair and deserved. I’ve made it clear I think Jonny Evans is ready to become even more involved, but I’d still prefer Vidic at the back for now. Especially with Rio Ferdinand’s recurring injuries we can’t afford to lose our other first-choice defender right now.
Fergie makes his move for £13m Defour – The Sun
Typically I think The Sun is full of fabrications written with the sole intent of selling newspapers, but I actually think this one may prove to be true. Ever since reports of Sir Alex’s letter of encouragement following Steven Defour’s broken foot I’ve always assumed that Defour would one day join United, I just wasn’t sure when. A letter is by no means the same as an offer for the player, but I just don’t see Ferguson writing a letter to a player he has no interest in. If that was the case, there are a lot of injuries throughout the course of a season; what makes Defour so special? I don’t know anything about Defour other than he’s Belgian and an attacking midfielder. I’ve never seen him play, so I’m not really in a position to comment on whether or not this would be a good signing. I encourage those who have seen him play to go to the forum and maybe fill us in on his credentials.
Welbeck set to join Sunderland on loan – The Daily Mirror
Yesterday Sir Alex said he intended to send Danny Welbeck on loan to a Premier League team this season, and today the Stadium of Light seems like the most likely destination. I’m not sure how I feel about him being linked to Sunderland. I think being loaned to a Premier League club is fantastic, I’m just not sure Sunderland will be the best club for his development.
And now for a bit about our rivals…
Zabaleta: City must stop talking about winning and play like champions – The Daily Mirror
A Citeh player actually making a reasonable statement? I don’t believe it! Finally one of our noisy neighbors is making a level-headed comment. It seems like all the talk coming from Eastlands is of their grand aspirations to win the title and how they’re now destined for greatness, but Pablo Zabaleta doesn’t seem to conform to all that talk. Zabaleta has instead told his teammates to quit talking about winning trophies and to instead actually perform like a team that deserves to lift a trophy. Frankly, I’m sick of hearing all their talk of glory when they’ve been unable to back it up on the field thus far.
Fun Fact: According to SkyBet.com, Manchester United and Real Madrid are currently joint-favorites to sign Mesut Ozil at 3/1 odds.
I didn’t get much feedback about the Stretty Stories discussion, but I have decided to change up the format slightly. The below link is now for the United News section of the forum. If you have a story you wish to comment on I encourage you to create a topic and discuss it on there. I may create topics for stories I find particularly interesting, so be on the lookout for that. Looking forward to continuing the good discussions we’ve been having.
Discuss all today’s news and rumors in the forum.
You can follow Kyle on Twitter at KDill_MUFC.