English Premier League: Vidic agrees to an improved deal at Old Trafford
Manchester United have cleared all the smoke surrounding their defenders future and have made it apparent that the Serbian international has signed a new deal with them. David Gill, United’s chief executive, told Manchester United’s official television channel, MUTV that Vidic has signed a new deal.
Vidic’s future was recently in doubt as Ferguson refused to clarify the situation after he was asked about it during United’s pre-season tour to U.S.A, Canada and Mexico. Vidic was considered a target for Real Madrid, who are looking to wrestle back the Spanish league title in the coming season from their Catalonian rivals, Barcelona.
Vidic’s own agent came out earlier on in the week and said that Madrid have yet to approach United for a deal with their star defender. Under Glazer’s management, United have made it a rule that they will not hold talks or negotiate with non-marketable stars like Nemanja before the player enters the last year of his contract.
However, now there are two exceptions to this rule, the first one was Wayne Rooney and the second one is Nemanja, himself. Vidic represented Serbia at the recently held FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Serbia were coupled in the group with Germany, Ghana and Australia.
Vidic was not in top form as Serbia lost their first game to Ghana but won their second game against Germany. During the Serbia versus Germany match, Vidic gave away a penalty as a result of an intentional handball inside Serbia’s penalty area. Luckily for him though, Germany’s striker Podolski didn’t score from the spot for the Bavarians.
Vidic came to Manchester United during the January transfer window of the year 2006. After a troubling few months, Vidic settled into the team and formed a fantastic partnership in the center of United’s defense with Rio Ferdinand. In the 2006-2007 season, United won their first league title in three years with Vidic performing at the very top level of club football for them.
In the 2007-2008 season, United won the league again and also added a UEFA Champions League triumph to their trophy cabinet. The red devils won the league for the third consecutive season in 2008-2009 but failed to retain their UEFA Champions League crown as they lost to Barcelona F.C in the final of the competition.
Vidic was off form for United in their 2009-2010 season as they failed to do well in the UEFA Champions League and also lost the English Premier League title to Chelsea by just a single point. David Gill in his comments to MUTV said that, United had agreed to the terms of Nemanja’s new contract with his representatives, around three or four weeks ago.
He added that, the Serbian defender and United sat down at the end of last season and started to discuss the situation surrounding his contract but the negotiations were disturbed as Vidic went away to represent Serbia at the World Cup in South Africa. Gill further stated that, the negotiations were resumed once Serbia were eliminated from the World Cup.
He concluded by stating that paperwork was under way and that Nemanja will sign the new contract once he returns from his post-World Cup holiday.
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