MANCHESTER UNITED-WILLIAM CARVALHO DEAL:FEE OF 37 MILLION POUNDS AGREED

MANCHESTER UNITED HAVE WRAPPED UP THE SIGNING OF SPORTING LISBON STAR WILLIAM CARVALHO.

William Carvalho is set to become Manchester United’s first big summer signing, writes Steve Bates of the Sunday People.

The Sporting Lisbon player's agent was given a tour of the club’s Carrington training ground last week and Portuguese international Carvalho will sign for United for £37million before the World Cup finals in Brazil.

United boss David Moyes is also confident he can land Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos, who is keen to move to Old Trafford even though United will miss out on Champions League football next season.

United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has been working hard to put deals in place and Sporting’s highly-rated youngster Carvalho looks like being the first of at least FIVE major signings.

The Angolan-born 21-year-old has a £37m release clause in his contract which United are prepared to trigger before the World Cup begins on June 12.

A host of top clubs are keen on Carvalho – including Chelsea – and having missed out on targets like Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas and Athletic Bilbao’s Ander Herrera last summer Woodward and Moyes have vowed not to be caught out again this year.

Moyes will also offer Southampton £26m for England left-back Luke Shaw (above) and is targeting Real Madrid star Fabio Coentrao.

PAUL SCHOLES IS BACK

SCHOLES LINED UP FOR MANCHESTER UNITED RETURN

Paul Scholes could be set for an emotional return to Old Trafford this summer.
The Manchester United legend decided to take a breather after hanging his boots up for a second time last year and, although Scholes was offered a coaching role within the Carrington set-up he wanted to spend more time with his family.
But the former England midfielder was spotted last Saturday evening in talks with David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson at the Alderley Edge hotel.
Sources have indicated United are keen to discover what he wants to do next and want to bring him back into the fold as they look to bolster David Moyes's coaching team.
Scholes, unlike some of his former colleagues, was full of support for United's under-pressure manager earlier this week, insisting: "With all the injuries he’s had, I feel quite sorry for him really. 
"He's never been able to put out the same back four. You see all the top teams, they have the same back four every week, especially with the centre-backs, they need to get an understanding and rhythm together. 
"Michael Carrick’s been injured, Robin van Persie’s been injured, key players have been injured [but] he's not made any excuses and tried to get on with it and hopefully next year will be better."

THE COMEBACK KINGS-REDS ARE BACK TO THEIR VINTAGE PERFORMANCE

THE REDS GO MARCHING ON AND ON

Last night was a memorable night for the Red Devils in a season of despair and anxiety, a luxury of getting good sleep for David Moyes and his men has been rare and would have been so had United suffered a loss to Olympiacos and bowed out of the Champions League. Remember The Champions League is the only silverware that United can hope to get realistically, but pundits believe that reaching the semi finals would be a herculean task forget about winning it.

It really was a vintage display by the Reds and all the players performed really well. The team played as a unit. The scoreline of 3-0 in favour of the Reds could have been easily 4-0 or 5-0 had luck been on United's side. Rooney's header deflected of the post, Welbeck missed a sitter. Moyes knew that he had to go all out attack in order to get those 3 goals and thus named Welbeck in the starting XI alongside Rooney and Van Persie. The midfield comprised of Carrick the Evergreen Giggsy and Valencia. United dominated on all fronts and looked superior than Olympiacos on the night.

There were a lot of positives for United as they prepare to face Manchester City in a week's time at the Old Trafford. The Hat-trick by Robin Van Persie would prove to be vital morale booster for him. Jones as a centre back proved why pundits call him the future captain of Manchester United. He defended like a warrior. Welbeck also played well for 90 minutes and thus could see himself playing in the Manchester Derby ahead of Adnan Januzaj.

But many would also say that despite the win United were far from convincing. Olympiacos is not a very good team compared to Europe's elite. More so they sold their prolific striker Mitrogolou to Fulham in the January transfer window. Once again the concern was the defensive midfield and the full back positions to be exact. Carrick did play well but Giggs who is already 40 wasn't being able to mark players once the game entered the final stages. Well it will be unfair to say anything against him because he already has aged so much but still played better than the other CDM'S in fray with the United squad. Evra did attack well but forgot that his main objective is defending and as a result United were left napping in the defence. Once Evra moved forward and lost possession Olympiacos had acres of free space to run and create openings. These things need to be adjusted if United dream of winning the next stage, because from here on it will be business and no joking around. Evra will miss the next game and thus it will be interesting as to who takes his position in LB position.

My last segment is devoted to the heroes of the match.

• THE OLD TRAFFORD FANS
• LEGENDARY RYAN GIGGS
• RED DEVIL ANTONIO VALENCIA (Played 75 minutes with one eye after getting hit in the eye)
• THE HAT-TRICK HERO ROBIN Van Persie

But one stand out performance for me was David De Gea. He is one of the positives for United this season. He saved two clear goals and the rest is history. No Doubt he was named the Man Of The Match by the fans. 

Thus it was one good memorable come from behind win for us.

Can we turn it around?

MATCH PREVIEW : THE RIVALRY RESUMES

Come this Sunday and we will see a hell of a game when the merseyside team LIVERPOOL FC come to THE OLD TRAFFORD for the ROUND 29 fixtures at the Barclays Premier League. Well I wouldn't say that the stage is set only because Liverpool are far ahead of us this season. 11 points to be exact and our only hope to fall down the TOP 4.

No doubt this game means a hell lot to all the RED DEVILS around the world. Not only that it is a crucial tie for United given the circumstances we are in. A win and we will be able to cut the difference to 8 points and hope Liverpool drop some in the coming months. Sounds unrealistic that we will have to fight for the TOP 4 places. But this is what separates us from all the other fans round the world. We have the belief in our team no matter what happens. These games hardly have a relevance on the playing XI as each and every individual will be fighting for glory. 

United will definitely have an upper hand going into the match. More so because it will be played in front of their home crowd. Add to that the two consecutive victories which haven't been a regularity. So consistency will play an important role given Liverpool didn't have any fixtures to play this week.

The fixture in Anfield this season ended in the favour of Liverpool winning it 1-0 but United took revenge when they beat them 1-0 in the League Cup this season. The last five meetings also support United where they have won 4 times and lost just 1. So history has been with United the past couple of years.

But we really don't know if David Moyes would want to send in a perfect playing XI or will he choose a team keeping in mind the Champions League home fixture against Olympiacos at the Old Trafford. I think Moyes will play an unchanged XI which I think will be best suited given any player wouldn't want to rest before a crunch game. What is certain is that Juan Mata will play because he will be unavailable for the Champions League fixture. David Moyes was quoted as saying that Shinji Kagawa will be given more match time. So does that mean Januzaj will be rested and Kagawa might play.

PREDICTED LINE UP:

David De Gea; Patrice Evra , Phil Jones, Chris Smalling , Rafael; Michael Carrick and Moruanne Fellaini , Juan Mata , Adnan Januzaj; Wayne Rooney; Robin Van Persie.

Mark Clattenburg will be the Refree for the game.

I think this line up to face Liverpool will be ideal. The centre Backs need to forge a partnership together given Vidic is going out and Rio about to retire. This team looks solid and looks formidable to get 3 points required against Liverpool. The biggest challenge will be to keep the Suarez and Sturridge partnership in check. So if Vidic and Ferdinand start United will automatically fall behind given the fact that the S$S partnership has pace,agility,power,stamina and goal scoring ability. Thus it is important that Jones and Smalling start. But I think either Vidic or Ferdinand will start given their vast experience and the hint Moyes threw by stating that they ( Vidic and Ferdinand , on the eve of WBA game) were being kept fresh for some massive games coming in future days.

In other news Manchester United signed a 10 year 600 million pound deal with shirt manufacturers NIKE. This will come as boost for the REDS who are looking at motivation.

More so many people believe that it is impossible for us to get into the TOP 4. Keeping in mind Liverpool's fixture I think we can. Liverpool have games like Chelsea Manchester City and obviously next week's 6 pointer to deal with. Most probably I think there is a lot at stake if United win the fixture. Hence it is massive for United. 

Just keep calm and wait for Sunday. Hues and Cries are in store for sure.

MANCHESTER UNITED SEAL WORLD-RECORD 600 million NIKE SPONSORSHIP DEAL

Manchester United are set to announce a world-record kit deal worth more than £600million.

The faltering Premier League champions will make a major statement that proves they are still the biggest name in world football by renewing an arrangement with Shirt manufacturers NIKE.

It will bank United more than £60million-a-year over the course of a decade-long agreement.

That is almost double the current best kit manufacturing deal, which sees Real Madrid earn £31million from their arrangement with adidas.

United currently have a deal with Nike worth £23.5million-a-season - less than Real, Arsenal, Barcelona and Liverpool.

But that 13-year agreement expires next year and, while the figures being demanded by the Old Trafford club were exceptional, there was no shortage of interest. Puma, Warrior and adidas all emerged to challenge Nike, but the Amercan giants were determined that United would not escape from their portfolio.

With a £35million-a-year short sponsorship deal with CHEVROLET set to kick in next season , it is clear that United can ride out the financial problems caused by a failure to finish in the top four this season.

The two new cash streams will provide David Moyes with significant funds to challenge for the top players with sheer financial muscle, even if United drop out of the European elite.

A REVIEW. Wayne Rooney's Contract extension and Van Persie's exit.

Its been 10 months since David Moyes took over the most sought after and one of the hardest challenges of his life, managing Manchester United. Arguably one of the most difficult top post to succeed at any level in the world. Time was given to him. Patience was the key. Stability was much talked about. Where do we really stand?
Fans say. In Doldrums. My Opinion? Not quite so. Manchester United at the moment are languishing at the seventh spot 3 points behind Everton and a whooping 14 behind Liverpool and Arsenal for a spot in the Champions league. The league table for United is dismal. Given that having played 27 times in the Premier League they have just won 13 games , drawn 6 and lost a whooping 8 things seem out of hands for David Moyes and his boys to try and be among the Top 4 for this season so that they can atleast be eligible for UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE qualifying rounds. So what would they be hoping for? At least get to Top 5 and play in Europa League next season. Things really are out of hands at the moment. Even breaking the bank for someone like Juan Mata didn't help the cause. Even after getting him on board didn't impact on the results. Now the latest addition to that was the Champions League Round Of 16 away leg match to Olympiakos which the visitors lost 2-0 making it almost impossible for them to get into the quarters , let alone thinking about winning the competition. Thus Moyes has lost faith amongst the Old Trafford faithfuls.

But actually I think it is harsh on David Moyes. He came in as a manager of this squad and wasn't helped by Ed Woodward and the scouting team to get his desired targets. How could he get the desired results with a team that hasn't seen anyone else than Sir Alex Ferguson in the dressing room? To adapt to the situations was always going to be difficult. It is evident. The likes of Nemanja Vidic , Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Micheal Carrick, Luis Nani are the ones who were the back bones of United squad when Sir Alex was at helm. But the Top 2 Centre Backs have fallen out of favour. Nani remains injured and Carrick is also finding life difficult. In these circumstances Moyes should have been given the authority to land his primary targets like the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Leighton Baines, Fabio Coentrao and Luke Shaw at any cost. To play with this team was always difficult and I look forward to the summer transfer window.

The Wayne Rooney contract situation I guess is again a good sign for United and I don't think that the 300,000 pounds weekly wage is something big for Rooney. He is a guiding force and Moyes has done a remarkable job by asking him to commit for the team for the rest of his life. That is something massive given that he is a fan favourite at Old Trafford.
Missing out on Champions League for a season won't matter much. Players would still want to come to United I guess. There are a number of players who are going to go out at the summer window. Thus I guess the squad is there for a complete overhaul. The likes of Anderson, Kagawa, Vidic, Young and Cleverley are rumoured to be getting the axe. The players who Moyes has said to be his Top transfer Targets are Tony Kroos, IIlkay Gundogan as the two CM'S. Mangala as a CB and Luke Shaw as a LB. Edinson Cavani is also rumoured to be a transfer target along with Mario Mandzukic for the striker positions given that Van Persie is certain to be leaving the squad next summer. Thus it will be worth to wait for the season to end and the transfer Window to start.
But if David does get the sack at the moment very few people are there to actually take over from him. Luis Van Gaal is the top target given United even fail to qualify for Europa League. The Netherlands manager wants to exit the team after the WC14 in Brazil. Another target that the United officials have drawn up is the present German Manager Joachim Low. They are the top 2 targets for the Glazers and Ed Woodward along with the other officials. Thus we can expect a sacking but not before the season ends.