A round-up of news and gossip relating to Manchester United over the past 24 hours.
Manchester United played Shanghai Shenhua today as they continued their preparations for the new season. The match finished 0-1 with a second-half goal from an impressive Shinji Kagawa who made his first start for Manchester United this pre-season. Sir Alex Ferguson started with several youngsters including Frederic Veseli, Robbie Brady, Nick Powell and Davide Petrucci before bringing on more senior players throughout the second half. Former Chelsea stars Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka did not feature for the Chinese side. United now travel back to Europe and will take on Norwegian side Valerenga in their next game.
Despite yesterday’s admission by Lucas Moura’s agent that he will not be leaving Sao Paulo, the player has instructed his agent to continue discussions with the club. United have reportedly tabled a bid of £26m but Sao Paulo are holding out for £30m and agent Wagner Ribeiro conceded that the player would move to United if they offer an ‘irrefusable’ deal.
Manchester United’s interest in the player has been further fuelled by Sao Paulo Vice-President Joao Paulo de Jesus Lopes’s openness to further bids from the club who they hold in high esteem.
Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken of the courting process to win the signature of former Crewe Alexandra player Nick Powell. The United boss reveals that the player was similarly chased by Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea and that the competition from other clubs spurred him onto hastily preparing a deal for the highly rated youngster.
Rio Ferdinand has said he believes he has played his last game for England but refused to announce his international retirement. Ferdinand has been capped 81 times for England but was left out of the squad that travelled to Poland and Ukraine for the European Championships. The player continues to say that his main focus is on Manchester United but maintains he will always be available for England selection.
Rio Ferdinand has also spoken of last season’s title collapse and believes it will benefit the young players who will draw the most experience from it. Ferdinand recalls his own experiences of losing a trophy when United lost to Liverpool in the 2003 League Cup Final and affirms the experiences of that day helped him to achieve further success. Ferdinand reveals his excitement for the younger players at the club but asserts that he will not comfortably relinquish his starting role to the likes of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.
image: © Gordon Flood
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