Easy decision for Vidic

Nemanja Vidic has insisted he is happy at Manchester United and never thought about leaving the club.

The Serbia defender had been linked with a move away from Old Trafford for several months, with Real Madrid among those thought to be interested.

However, the speculation came to an end during United's recent tour of North America when chief executive David Gill revealed Vidic had agreed a new long-term contract.

Vidic has now spoken about the matter for the first time, saying his heart was always set on remaining with the Red Devils.

"I don't know why people think it was a difficult decision. I always said I am happy here," Vidic said after Wednesday night's 7-1 victory over an Airtricity XI in Dublin to open the new £350million Aviva Stadium.

"I never spoke about my future.

"I know there was all this speculation but I never said I wanted to go. There was nothing new.

"I am very happy to be here."

United completely dominated in Dublin as many of their players returned to action for the first time since the World Cup.

Wayne Rooney did not score but Sir Alex Ferguson was impressed by the striker and is confident he will be completely fit for United's opening Premier League game against Newcastle.

Ferguson feels that with Sunday's Community Shield and an England friendly against Hungary still to play, there is plenty of room for improvement.

The United manager also rebuffed questions about recent pictures that showed Rooney smoking and behaving boisterously on the Manchester streets during the early hours.

"I am not getting into that," said Ferguson. "He has only been training for six days but he impressed me.

"He will need more training before he plays full games but I will have to play him against Chelsea to bring him on in time for the game against Newcastle.

"By that time he would have played an international too, which could be a good thing."

Source: Sky Sports
Date Published: 5 August 2010

Latest Forum Comments

Have your say on Easy decision for Vidic in the United Online forum

Vidic never did want to leave now but... 1) The spin was started by the club; any transfer would be for financial reasons but they like fans to believe the player wanted out 2) Vidic has indicated he would consider leaving after his current deal, which is what promoted the club to worry he would leave on a free and start trying to shift him now

- Oli

Players traditionally did not sign contracts when they wanted to move as it priced them out the market. But, like with Ronaldo, when you are aiming to move to a top club where money really is no object, you may as well sign the contract with United as you can still move the next summer. It just means the player gets a much higher signing on fee and United profit too- plus Madrid and their fans are just delighted to get the player so the higher price (even 80m for Ronaldo) is forgotten and they are happy too. Good business by United to get him to sign this, just as they did with Ronny. It will calm the media storm for a bit and they will either keep the player or make a fortune- pros to both.

- Oli

Agree with Oli on this one personally. I've just got the vibe that Vidic doesn't exactly want to finish his career with us and would be happy to move on in the near future. From reports it seems his wife is desperate to get away from Manchester. Of course a lot could change between now and next summer, and it's great to have the man for another season at least, but I won't be surprised to see him sold next summer for a bigger fee. Whatever happens, he has been magnificent for us for the past few seasons, and having him for one more year at least is great news.

- Menace

It's a sad sign of the times that our main hope for every summer is just to keep what we have.

- jonny

I reckon he will stay now. At one point he was def off but seems to have done a U turn. Wait and see game, I hope the club offer him a new deal beyond 2012 as a test...

- Oli

Going back to the above re buying replacements, haven't we already bought the replacement in Smalling and made a tidy profit if Vidic then goes for 25m? It continues the trend of cut price bargain risk replacements rather than proven top level quality- whether it be Valencia, Owen, Tosic, Diouf or Obertan etc. Some of those may well work out (such as valencia) but overall it is not the best strategy for the "richest club in the world" hehe. The club will spin that Vidic wants to leave and we will never really know if it is true. Plenty have gone in the past with the media utterly convinced it was the player's choice, when in actual fact it was Utd cashing in. This seems to be following the same lines- Vidic says he wants to stay but stories keep coming (from sources close to United) that he is off- which says a lot to me.

- Oli

He's definitely off at the end of this season isn't he?

- Zain

If the player doesn't want to be at the club then get him out, simple as. No one is bigger than the club, the question is who comes in instead. PersonallY I would say his dip in form is linked to his lack of commitment/ being unsettled rather than injury. When a player is inevitably going to leave you have to get rid of them when the price is right. At least then there is a chance part of it might get reinvested. However, he is far from beyond the point of return and if he sees the light there is no reason he cannot get his form back and stay for many years. It is not the first time players have wanted out then been very glad to have stayed.

- Oli

You can't just go and buy another player. The best players play at the best clubs and Vidic is the best defender at the club, we don't want him at another club, because we'll get a "watered down" version. He's had a form dip, but he's also had injuries. We can't keep selling! I don't have to spell out that the backbone of the team wins everything! Vidic & Ferdinand have been a huge loss over Christmas.

- Cookster68

if he wants to go, let him - there is nothing worse than having someone at the club who doesn't want to be there. as long as we can get a good fee for him (£30 million) then we can buy in 2 players for that money.

- Shaun