With speculation over a Berbatov deal News of the World claim that United will pay 30m and exchange English striker Frazier Campbell. The deadline is on Monday and United are in desperate need of a striker.

A Bad Deal:

To tell the truth if this is really gonna happen we are going to get ripped off.  If they want Campbell then the deal should be around 21m instead of 30m. But i think we should just buy him for 28m and keep Campbell.  What if someone gets injured we would not have a proper striker on the bench! So please Fergie don’t! Do we have to sell every youngster we have. We let Simpson and Martin on loan and sold Eagles and Pique. We should be producing as well as buying  but it won’t happen if Fergie continues like this.

Image from Setanta

Man Utd 0-1 Zenit St. Petersberg

A ten man United team lost to Uefa Cup holders Zenit in Friday’s Super cup tie.

First Half:

The Russians were dominating possesion for most the first half as Zenit took the lead when Pavel Pogrebnyak scored from close range just before the interval. Zenit gave United defence a torrid time with Patrive Evra and Gary Neville always out of position. Zenit’s counter attacking style and flair showed as Konstantin Zyryanov and Aleksandr Anyukov set up two great chances but Pogrebnyak couldn’t convert. United’s best chance was when the brilliant Carlos tevez ran down the right wing and layed it off to Rooney but didn’t judge it and went under his legs.

Second Half:

United were hoping to pull a goal back but new boy Danny scored a superb goal as he foiled the whole backtracking United defence. With O’shea and Park coming on United showed enthusiasm late on as o’shea and Tevez had good chances. With United’s best 20 minutes of the match came a Vidic goal from a corner. Nani swang one in with Rooney controlling then finding Tevez who layed it off for Vidic too score. But they were still frustrated as showed by Paul Scholes who handled the ball for his second booking. Zenit then eased for the last 5 minutes and deservedly won the game.

Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar 6, Gary Neville 4.5 [Wes Brown 76, 5.5], Rio Ferdinand 6, Nemanja Vidic 6.5, Patrice Evra 6, Darren Fletcher 5.5 [John O’Shea 60, 6.5], Anderson 5.5 [Park Ji-Sung 60, 6], Paul Scholes 5.5, Nani 4.5, Wayne Rooney 6.5, Carlos Tevez 7.5.

Zenit St Petersburg: Vyacheslav Malafeev 6.5, Ivica Krizanac 6 [Vladislav Radimov 70, 6], Alexander Anlukov 6.5, Sebastien Puygrenier 6 [Roman Shirokov 62, 5], Radek Shirl 6.5, Konstatin Zyranov 6.5, Danny 8.5*, Igor Denisov 6.5, Anatoli Tymoschuk 6.5, Pavel Pogrebnyak 7.5 , Alejandro Dominguez 6 [Andrei Arshavin 46, 6.5].

Man of the Match: Danny- What a super signing. Worth his 25m price tag he ran the United defence ragged and deserved a goal.

Flop of the Match: Nani- He should have gone off and had no end product with feeble crosses. He was forlorn and i’m starting to think that he is a waste of money.

Battle of the match: Carlos Tevez-Zenit: He seemed like the only player who played for a team who won the champions league last year. His work rate was superb he just couldn’t get the same from his players. Zenit were only playing Carlos Tevez United for most of the match. We need a new striker and Ronaldo back.

Manchester United striker Louis Saha will join Everton for an undisclosed fee after he passes a Medical.

Saha will sign a two-year deal and an option to extend his contract.

Boss David Moyes said:”He can do a bit of everything, he can run, head it, and he can link play up.”

“There is no doubt he is a fantastically talented player, the question now is can we get him fit and we are hoping we can do that.

“He was involved in 17 or 18 games for Manchester United last year and if he can be involved in a few more than that for us than he will certainly play a part. Saha scored 42 goals during an  career at United, but his deal could mean a move for Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham may be completed before the transfer deadline.

“If you do get him on the pitch there is no doubt he is a very good player and adds qualities that we will need.”

Saha United Statistics:

Saha’s Appearances and Goals and from the chart he has a goal ratio of 0.36.

Man Utd have revealed their third kit today. It was designed to celebrate 40 years since the Reds wore blue and becoming the first English team to win the European Cup.It will be preferred as the second kit in the Champions League.

“This club has a great history. We respect the legends and it’s great for us to put a shirt on that remembers a great team. I think it’s beautiful.” – Cristiano Ronaldo

“I’m very impressed. It’s great to have a kit to celebrate 40 years since that amazing night. For it to look so good and be the same colour as the kit from 1968 is a testimony to the designers.” – Ryan Giggs.

Link to Official Website

Holder Manchester United have been drawn in Group E with Villareal, Celtic and Denmark’s Aalborg BK.

United have been drawn with Spanish runners-up Villareal who have former striker Diego Forlan. They will also have to play Scottish Champions Celtic who they met in the  group stages in 06/07, with Celtic winning 1-0 at home but Manchester United scraped the return fixture 3-2 at Old Trafford.They will also meet Aalborg BK who were Danish Champions.

Group E Games will be played on the following dates:
17 September
30 September
21 October
5 November
25 November
10 December

Ronaldo Award:

Ronaldo was delighted after collecting the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year prize at the awards ceremony in Monaco. The Portuguese international was also selected as the Best Forward. Asked about the secret of success he said: “Work. I think Manchester had a great season and I scored many goals. I feel very proud to be the best forward as I played as a winger – it is very good for me and gives me more ambition to become better. Thanks to all my team-mates and those that voted for me.” The last United player to win the best forward award  was Ruud Van Nistelrooy in 2003. Van Der Sar was pipped by Chelsea’s Petr Cech for the Goalkeeper award and John Terry and Frank Lampard narrowly beat the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes in the Defender and Midfielder category respectively.

Uefa Super Cup:
Venue: Stade Louis II, Monaco Date: Friday, 29 August Kick-off: 1945 BST
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 Live and ITV1 television from 1930

Man Utd go into Friday’s Super cup game against Zenit St.Petersburg with the news that Owen Hargreaves is back from an tendinitis problem and could start.

Gary Neville could also play his first  competitive match in Monaco while Ryan Giggs is back after a hamstring problem. Nani is also back from his three match ban.

Zenit might be missing star striker Andrei Arshavin with manager Dick Advocaat saying “His head is occupied with other thoughts.”Arshavin has expressed his desire to move to Barcelona and saw a potential move to Tottenham collapse last week.And new signing Danny who they brought for £24m is set to replace him  Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, who missed Euro 2008 because of knee problems, is also ready to play.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is competing in his fourth Super Cup – and his third as United boss. But United lost their last Super Cup to Lazio 1-0  in Monaco after their Champions League triumph of 1999, a memory Ferguson is determined to erase on Friday.

“I remember the last time we went there I only played half a team,” said Ferguson

“When I saw Lazio celebrating at the end, it was like they had won the World Cup.

“I was not too pleased. I thought, ‘That will not happen again’.

“We’ll view the Super Cup as a one-off and we want to win it but we are expecting a very tough game.”

Zenit boss Dick Advocaat who used to managed Holland said:

“United are a very famous and a very strong opponent, who we will treat with a lot of respect,” said Advocaat.

“This is like an exam which will show what our team is capable of.”

A bit about Zenit:

The Uefa Cup Holders will play in the Champions League this year and backed by mega-rich oil tycoon Gazprom. Zenit like to play quick passing and counter-attacking football with overlapping full-backs. Right back Anyukov will be a threat and so will powerful striker Pavel Pogrebnyak. They will miss the creativity of Andrei Arshavin but are hoping Danny and Zyranov will be able to deliver the goods.