Axel Witsel Bid May Be Imminent

Manchester United are being rushed into making a £10million bid for Standard Liege midfielder Axel Witsel before Arsenal and Inter move. Sir Alex Ferguson has had scouts in Belgium to watch Witsel in action for the last couple of matches and he turned in a great display against Sevilla in the Uefa Cup last week.

Fergie has been hit by a minor midfield injury crisis with recent news that Owen Hargreaves will be out for the season (is he the new Louis Sahahahahaha ?) and Paul Scholes not due back until the New Year. United could wait for a few months and bid for him in the summer but by doing this his price could have gone through the roof.

The 19-year-old impressed against Liverpool in the Champions League qualifiers last August and had a fine game when Standard knocked Everton out of the Uefa Cup earlier this season.

Arsenal, Inter, Bolton and Middlesbrough have also been following the pacy central midfielder who is under contract at the Stade du Sclessin until 2013. Bolton have already had a £5million bid rebuffed by the Belgian champions who are said to value Witsel at £18million......dream on !!! .....Back To Home Page

Owen Goes To The Good Ol' USA For Treatment

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves is flying to the United States to visit Dr Richard Steadman, the renowned knee specialist. A course of injections has done nothing to free Hargreaves of an injury that, in April, he claimed he might never be rid of, and, after visits to specialists in Sweden and London over the past ten days failed to provide any fresh answers, United decided to send the 27-year-old to Colorado to see Dr Steadman as fears grow for his future at Old Trafford.

“We have been trying to manage the situation, but we haven't been able to come up with an answer,” Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, said. “Owen has been frustrated and patient, but we have never really got to the bottom of his problem. We need to speed that up now, which is why we have sent him to the best available people in order to get a general opinion about where we go from here.” ....Back To Home Page

Arsenal 'v' Manchester United Team News

Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes could be back in action for the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan next month. Scholes was ruled out for 10 weeks when he suffered knee ligament damage against Aalborg in September but has returned to light training and could potentially make his comeback against Tottenham on December 13 before flying to the Far East.

The former England star joins another long-term absentee Owen Hargreaves on the sidelines for the trip to Arsenal, while Wes Brown has also been ruled out for another week as he rests an ankle problem. Darren Fletcher (knee) is a doubt but captain Gary Neville is fit.

Arsenal forward Robin van Persie is suspended. Emmanuel Adebayor (ankle) and Emmanuel Eboue (knee) will miss out, along with long-term absentees Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo. Late checks will be made on Mikael Silvestre (nose), William Gallas (hamstring), Bacary Sagna (ankle) and Theo Walcott (shoulder).

Teams:

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Fabianski, Diaby, Sagna, Fabregas, Toure, Nasri, Gallas, Vela, Walcott, Denilson, Ramsey, Song, Silvestre, Wilshere, Gibbs, Djourou, Clichy, Bendtner.

Man Utd (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea, Evra, Ronaldo, Carrick, Gibson, Possebon, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs, Nani, Park, Rooney, Berbatov, Tevez......Back To Home Page

Owen Off To Barca ?

Manchester United have had enough of Owen Hargreave's consistent injury problems. Fergie didn't say that, Owen Hargreaves didn't say it neither did anyone at Old Trafford but the News of the World did, so it must be true.

I'm not too patient with injury prone players, I spent two years pulling out my hair waiting for Fergie to offload Louis Sahahahahaha, which eventually, he did.

According to the same news paper both Man City and Barcelona would be interested, however it is difficult to see United selling to City now that City have a real prospect of becoming a top 4 team.

Barcelona would not have to pay anywhere the £18 million that Manchester United paid Bayern Munich and would probably get the player for about half that amount if he were for sale. Fair enough, Hargreaves has struggled to find his form since his move from Bayern and has been sidelined with injuries since his arrival but he would be loathe to move on. Fergie is not one for sentimentality however and if rumours about David Villa are to be believed, then things might change. But for now OH is a red and we should be on his side........Back To Home Page