Team News

Tue 27th July

Owen Hargreaves faces the prospect of being ruled out of Premier League action until January after Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that new rules enforcing the submission of a 25-man domestic squad could force him to omit the injury-ravaged Manchester United midfielder from his plans. All Premier League clubs must lodge their 25-man squads — which have to include eight players who have spent at least three years at the club prior to the age of 21 — upon the closure of the transfer window on Aug 31.

Although players under the age of 21 can be added to that squad at any time, clubs cannot add senior players to the pool until the reopening of the transfer window in January. Carling Cup ties do not fall under the new rules. United manager Ferguson recently admitted he had no idea when Hargreaves, who has made just one brief substitute appearance since undergoing double knee surgery in December 2008 and January 2009, will be fit to play again after returning to visit a specialist in the United States. And with £17 million Brazilian midfielder Anderson also not expected back in action until late September following a cruciate knee ligament injury, Ferguson admits the Aug 31 cut-off point is causing a headache over the two players. Ferguson said: “It does give me a problem, but I’ve just got to wait as long as I can.” He added: “I have to make a decision at some point of course and it depends on when I think those players can come back. “Most of it [the squad] is formulated in my mind, but one or two I have to make decisions on.” Michael Owen, sidelined since February following hamstring surgery, is expected to be fit to make the squad, while Ferguson is set to give Javier Hernández his club debut when United face the MLS All-Stars in Houston on Wednesday.

Sat 24th July

Sir Alex Ferguson insists he is happy with his current squad at Manchester United despite Manchester City's latest spending spree. United reached agreements with Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez earlier this year and the players arrived at Old Trafford this summer, but City have already added the likes of David Silva and Yaya Toure to the squad and are threatening to make more big-name signings. Yet Ferguson insists he is not distracted by events at Eastlands and suggested he may not look to make further signings this summer.

"I cannot speak about other clubs," he said. "We are comfortable with the squad we have got. We bought players at the right time of the season and we are happy with what we have." Meanwhile, United have received a boost with the news Portugal winger Nani is set to return to action. Nani sustained a dislocated collarbone shortly before the World Cup but he has linked up with the squad for their pre-season tour of North America and could face Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night. "I just started training with the team three days ago," Nani said. "I am feeling good now. I can feel my fitness beginning to build up and I am hoping to play a little bit this week."

Wed 30th June

Tom Cleverley is poised to sign a new deal at Manchester United. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is keen to reward the talented midfielder with a new long-term deal at Old Trafford. The England Under 21 international is highly regarded within the corridors of Old Trafford and is seen as a key player in Ferguson's future plans. Cleverley enjoyed a successful loan spell at Watford last season, scoring 11 goals in 33 appearances and in the process scooping the club's player of the year prize. The 20-year-old is happy at United and is expected to sign a new three-year extension at the club. A number of Premier League clubs are thought to be keen on signing Cleverley on loan next season and it remains to be seen if Ferguson will continue to allow his best young players go out on loan in a bid to get regular first-team action under their belts.

Sun 27th June

Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves have given Manchester United a massive boost by declaring themselves fit for pre-season training. The first-team squad - excluding the World Cup stars - are due back on July 5 but both Owen and Hargreaves have already been in at the Red Devils' Carrington training ground to work with the fitness team. Owen has worked ferociously to recover from the knee injury that cut short his season. The United staff have been impressed with his dedication and are convinced he is ready to take a full part in pre-season and the club's tour of America and Canada.

Owen will be joined by Hargreaves, who is over his 20-month injury crisis.The England midfielder managed a brief end-of-season bow against Sunderland after crippling tendinitis threatened his career. He has recently returned from a trip to Colorado, where he continues to receive treatment. But there have been no ill-effects and Hargreaves has been able to maintain a high-intensity training programme through the summer, much to the relief of manger Sir Alex Ferguson and England boss Fabio Capello. Capello even considered Hargreaves as part of the pre-World Cup party until Fergie made it clear the player was not match-fit. The FA's medical staff, however, have been monitoring his fitness with Capello pencilling Hargreaves in for an international return in September for the start of the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Thur 13th May

Manchester United star Antonio Valencia is in a race to be fit for the start of next season - after having an ankle operation. The Ecuador winger was feeling the problem in the final weeks of the season and pulled out of the final two matches after taking one knock too many. Ecuador’s absence from the World Cup finals meant he could go under the knife immediately and he underwent surgery in Manchester. Now Valencia should be able to start his rehabilitation late next month and be up and running for the beginning of the next campaign if there are no complications.

Fri 30th Apr

United could have Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand fit for Sunday's game against Sunderland. Rooney missed last weekend's game against Tottenham Hotspur with a groin injury, and he has also been playing through the pain barrier with an ankle problem. But Sir Alex thinks a weekend off has solved the issue.

Rio Ferdinand picked up a groin injury in the the 0-0 draw with Blackburn earlier this month and hasn't played since. But, like Rooney, he's in contention for the trip to the Stadium of Light if he comes through the next two days' training unscathed. "We expect Wayne to join us in training today," said the boss. "And we hope the same goes for Rio. We will see how they do. "We've got a couple of days [before Sunday's game]. The fact that Wayne missed last week's game allowed the ankle to settle. We don't have any issues with that now. But groin injuries can be a problem at this time of year when the ground is hard. But hopefully if he comes through training today then it gives us something to think about on Sunday."

Rooney will only play on Sunday, however, if he is fully fit. He will not be risked dependent on the outcome of Chelsea's result against Liverpool at Anfield. "He won't be involved unless he is fit, straightforward," said the boss.

Reported by: www.manutd.com

Mon 26th Apr

Manchester United will almost certainly have to try to win the Premier League without Wayne Rooney. The 34-goal striker missed Saturday afternoon's 3-1 win over Tottenham with a groin injury he picked up in training on Thursday and although Ferguson has not completely given up on Rooney being fit for his side's final two games, things do not look good. "We are looking at two or three weeks," admitted the United boss. "He tweaked a groin during a simple passing exercise. We will give him every chance because he is desperate to play but we will have to wait and see."

As Rooney returned far quicker than Ferguson stated from a sprained ankle suffered in the Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich, the England forward's presence at either Sunderland next week, or the season-ending home clash with Stoke on May 9 cannot entirely be discounted. If he is forced to watch, as he did from an executive box on Saturday, the 24-year-old knows he will be shredding his fingernails. United did not quite leave it as late as the last-gasp win over Manchester City to defeat in-form Spurs but there were less than 10 minutes remaining when Nani raced onto Federico Macheda's lay-off and went for a delicate chip from an acute angle, producing a finish fellow-countryman Cristiano Ronaldo would have been proud of.

"It was a great ball from Federico and Nani needed audacity and courage to chip the keeper from such a tight angle," said Ferguson. "Not many players would have even tried that." Ryan Giggs wrapped up the victory four minutes from time, when he coolly slotted home his second penalty of the afternoon after Nani had been sent crashing by Wilson Palacios. Considering Giggs had not taken one in his entire career before Benoit Assou-Ekotto dived in on Patrice Evra when the game was still goalless, the veteran midfielder took the spot-kicks in pretty nerveless fashion, finding the bottom corner on both occasions to ensure United replaced Chelsea at the top of the table. "I left it between Ryan and Nani to decide who would take them," said Ferguson. "His experience showed in the end because he took two really good penalties."

Fri 9th Apr

Wayne Rooney has been ruled out of Manchester United's Premier League match against Blackburn on Sunday. Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that the England striker will not feature because of his ankle problem. United's top scorer, who has 34 goals so far this season, suffered the injury in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich and missed last week's 2-1 defeat by title rivals Chelsea. Rooney made a surprise return for the second leg against Bayern on Wednesday but aggravated the injury and had to be substituted after 55 minutes as Bayern went through on away goals. Ferguson insisted he did not suffer any long-term damage and although he will not be risking Rooney for this weekend's trip to Ewood Park, his star striker could return for the derby against Manchester City on 17th April.

Tue 6th Apr

Alex Ferguson is set to make major changes for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final tie with Bayern Munich. United’s abject defeat by Chelsea, which saw Carlo Ancelotti’s side seize control of the title race, has persuaded Fergie that a reshuffle is needed for the visit of the Germans. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, nothing less than a win will do, and Fergie is poised for a significant switch of personnel for arguably the biggest game of United’s season.

The old guard of Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, all of whom started against Chelsea, are expected to be axed. Rafael Da Silva, Michael Carrick and Nani are poised to replace the ageing trio, who looked jaded against Chelsea as United slumped to a seventh Premier League defeat of the season. United defender Nemanja Vidic admitted Fergie’s players have no time to start feeling sorry for themselves in the aftermath of successive defeats to Bayern and Chelsea. “We were down after the Bayern game but we cannot afford to be down again after losing to Chelsea,” said Vidic.

“We need to get our heads up. We’ve lost two games but we shouldn’t feel sorry for ourselves. We need to seize the moment and make sure we finish well this season. “We have five games to play in the Premier League and we need to win all five. It’s not an easy job but I hope there will be more twists and turns. If we win all five games then I think we will have good chance.” United were left with a sense of injustice at Chelsea’s second goal, with Didier Drogba clearly offside when the ball was played through for him to score. “It’s one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen,” raged Fergie. “If he can’t get that right, why is he officiating in an important game like this? But that’s twice this season we’ve been beaten by refereeing decisions against Chelsea. “At Stamford Bridge it was exactly the same. Sometimes you get these decisions, sometimes you don’t. It’s the quality of the official that’s cost us.” Five of United’s seven Premier League defeats this season have come after Champions League games. “The players just looked a big leggy,” said Fergie. “Coming back from a game in midweek and having a lunchtime kick-off is not easy.”