A round-up of stories relating to Manchester United over the past 24 hours.
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has revealed that Manchester United are proposing new financial rules to be adopted by the Premier League. The proposition will be in accordance with UEFA’s financial fair play rules and is believed to have garnered support from the other Premier League members but Whelan has speculated that such efforts could be to counteract the excessive spending of rivals Manchester City and Chelsea.
Manchester United will open a new £13m state-of-the-art health centre at their Carrington training base. Manchester United had the worst injury record in the Premier League last season and the club hope the new facilities will reduce recovery times and negate the reliance on nearby hospitals for diagnosis and consultation. The club have a five-year agreement with Toshiba who will provide the technology and equipment for the centre.
Wayne Rooney remains at least a fortnight away from action with Sir Alex Ferguson in no rush to restore the striker to the first team due to the performances of Robin Van Persie. Medical staff are concerned about the risk of infection from the gash sustained from an accidental incident with Hugo Rodallega and are changing his strapping on a daily basis. In the meantime, Ferguson has commanded Rooney to focus on his fitness after appearing less than 100% in United’s opening loss to Everton.
In further extracts from his autobiography, Rooney envisions a midfield role towards the end of his career. Rooney has deputised in a central midfield position several times and believes when his body loses the sharpness required to play as a striker, he will assume a midfield role once more.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes sending young players on loan to foreign clubs represents a risk to their development. Ferguson has admitted that he remains cautious over foreign loan moves due to the recent unsatisfactory experiences for some players. Josh King’s anonymous spell at Borussia Monchengladbach and Federico Macheda’s fruitless loan to Sampdoria are examples Ferguson recalls and the manager contends that a move to a domestic club is often more effective in monitoring the progress of loanees.
Amidst speculation linking striker Leandro Damiao to Manchester United, Internacional president Giovanni Luigi has underlined that the Brazilian will not leave the club until his minimum release clause is met. The 23-year-old has a buyout clause of around £47m and the president told journal Zero Hora that the Manchester club, and any other interested parties, must talk to Internacional first before they talk to the player.
The Sun claim that Cristiano Ronaldo will never join Manchester City whilst Sir Alex Ferguson is managing Manchester United. The forward publicly declared his discontent at Madrid after Sunday’s win against Granada in which he scored two goals but a close source has told the paper that Ronaldo’s respect for Ferguson is such that he will never join rivals City. Cristiano Ronaldo recently expressed his gratitude to the United boss and hailed him as one of the best managers in the world alongside Jose Mourinho.
United youngster Josh King has reportedly told club officials that he will move to Norway’s Molde, managed by United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, unless he receives more opportunities to impress Sir Alex Ferguson. King has represented Norway from an Under-15 to an Under-21 and saw his chances of a first-team spot increase when fellow youth product Will Keane get injured but the arrivals of Van Persie, Henriquez and Nick Powell have unsettled the 20-year-old.
Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly monitoring Javier Hernandez’s position at Manchester United. Hernandez is seen as fourth choice behind Van Persie, Rooney and Danny Welbeck and with Andre Villas-Boas not convinced about Emmanuel Adebayor, Tottenham could make a move in January for the 24-year-old striker with the guarantee of regular first-team football.
image: © Gordon Flood
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