Michael Owen signs for United

Manchester United is delighted to announce that it has signed Michael Owen on a two-year contract. The striker was out of contract so no transfer fee is involved.

Sir Alex said: "Michael is a world class forward with a proven goalscoring record at highest level and that has never been in question. Coming to United with the expectations that we have is something that Michael will relish."

Owen said: "I had just begun to talk to other clubs when out of the blue. Sir Alex phoned me on Wednesday afternoon, invited me to have breakfast with him the next morning during which he told me that he wanted to signed me. I agreed without a moment's thought."

"This is a fantastic opportunity for me and I look forward to being a Manchester United player and I am fortunate that I already know so many of the players here. I want to thank Sir Alex for the faith he has shown in me and I give him my assurance that I will repay him with my goals and performances," added Owen.

Owen Facfile:

DOB: 14 December 1979.

Formers clubs: Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United.

Club records: 322 apps, 157 goals.

International records: England, 89 caps, 40 goals.

Honours:

UEFA Cup 2001, UEFA Super Cup 2001, FA Cup 2001, League Cup 2001 & 2003,

European footballer of the year 2001.

Now, I want to say that Michael Owen will be a hope for United, after the exit for Ronaldo & Tevez. Owen was a great player on 2001. Will be a great player on 2010? Will he score much goals for United? Have your say!

Written by Paul Grippo.

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Source: manutd.com

Is there life after Ronaldo?

The summer has only just started but already we have lost two of our biggest name players. Ronaldo has gone to Real Madird in an £80 million move while Tevez looks like signing for Manchester City.

Although I was a huge fan of Tevez and rated him highly his departure barely spoken about in comparison to the loss of Ronaldo , who although didn't quite manage to recreate the form of the season before , was still a massively influential player for us often making the difference by providing that little bit of magic. So is there life after Ronaldo?

Well........of course there will be but his departure surely signals the time for major changes to the squad. In my opinion Ronaldo can't just be replaced by one player unless we manage to sign a world class player of his quality but these are few and far between especially with Real Madrid signing up every top player in the world!

We have been linked with the likes of David Villa and Benzema both of whp have the potential to be fantastic players for us but with Villa preferring a move to Spain and Benzema stalling for one more year in France that makes these signings less than certain.

Wigans Valencia is constantly linked with us and I reckon he will most likely sign, but he is no replacement for Ronaldo which gets back to my earlier point that if we buy players of lower quality we need more of them to strengthen other positions. I am not saying Valencia is a bad player but he isn't AS good which is the point.

Whoever we see in a Man Utd shirt next year then I am sure we will still beup there competing for honours but hopefully we can sign a big name to ensure dominance yet again.

Written by Danny Watson, a professional sports writer who blogs about football news.

United's fixtures 2009/10 revealed

Hello, my friends. Now, I'm gonna tell you the next matches of United in the Premier League 2009/10.

Ok, Let's started! First game will be at Old Trafford on 15 August, against Birmingham. The two next games will be away against Burnley and Wigan on 18 and 22 August respectively. Then, a strong game against The Gunners at Old Trafford on 29 August. On 12 September, United travel to Spurs's Stadium. And then, the classic game will be coming against Manchester City on 19 September.

Now, it's turn to Premiership's run-in: On 3 April United face Chelsea at Old Trafford. Then, two games on away against Blackburn and Manchester City on 10 and 17 April and then against Spurs on 24 April on away.

Finally, in May the two last games will be against Sunderland on 1st away and Stoke City on 9th at OT. Oh, well.

I'm very anxious on start the next Premier league and I want these to come fast. We're gonna for the title defence and for surpase Liverpool in the titles's count. Go United Go!!

Written by Paul Grippo.

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OFFICIAL: United Accept £80m Ronaldo Bid

Manchester United have accepted a world record transfer offer for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid on Thursday, clearing the World Player of the Year to negotiate personal terms with the Spanish club.

It now appears that the Portugal winger has played his last game in a Manchester United shirt.

The Premier League champions received an unconditional offer of 80 million pounds ($131 million) for Ronaldo, and unlike in the last offseason manager Alex Ferguson told the Glazer family which owns the club that he is willing to see his 24-year-old star performer join a major European rival.

United said: "At Cristiano's request -- who has again expressed his desire to leave -- and after discussion with the player's representatives, United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player.

"Matters are expected to be concluded by 30 June."

Madrid confirmed the offer for Ronaldo in a statement, saying: "The club hopes to reach an agreement with the player in the coming days."

The Portugal winger, who joined from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, spent last June pushing for what he called at the time a "dream move" to Madrid.

An unsuccessful complaint about Madrid's pursuit was made to football's world governing body FIFA and a move was blocked by United manager Alex Ferguson, who traveled to Lisbon to persuade his player to stay at Old Trafford.

That didn't stop Ronaldo being linked with Madrid and Ferguson's irritation boiled over in December when he said he "wouldn't sell Madrid a virus," describing the club as a "mob."

But now a world-record bid -- even if it means losing those feints, stepovers and thunderous free kicks -- appears too hard to resist.

Written by Danny Watson, a professional sports writer who blogs about football news.

United want to keep star duo

UNITED are fighting to keep Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez out of the clutches of their deadliest rivals.

Real Madrid's new president Florentino Perez is again targeting Ronaldo as well as Kaka - potential world record-breaking transfers aimed at bringing the glory days back to the Bernabeu.

The Spanish aristocrats are also monitoring the Tevez wrangle, although of more immediate concern to United is the prospect of the Argentinian star joining mega-bucks City, who are first in the queue ready with a near £100,000-a-week wage offer if talks at Old Trafford break down.

City see the acquisition of Tevez as a statement of intent following the £12m capture of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa on Tuesday.

United's top brass met Tevez's representative Kia Joorabchian for two hours earlier this week and, although no details have been made public, it is understood a compromise deal has been thrashed out after the champions stuck to their guns, refusing to shell out £26m to to make his stay permanent.

Joorabchian and United chief executive David Gill agreed to delay a decision until next week after Tevez has played for his country in World Cup matches against Colombia and Ecuador and had time to discuss his future in detail.

If you'd like to read more details, please Click Here.

Source: Manchester Evening News.

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Season still a success

The atmosphere around United has been a depressing one since the defeat on Wednesday night but the truth is we have had a fantastic season and came very close to winning 5 trophies this year.

I think that the manner of the defeat on Wednesday was what has made it so hard to take. Only 2 weeks ago we clinched the title and looked unstoppable but now the heads are down. The truth is we were probably a little complacent going into the match. We started to read our own press and thought we would stroll the match against Barca so that when we went a goal behind we found it hard to pick ourselves up. I can’t take anything away from Barca, as they played very well but we just didn’t have the fight for the comeback.

All this being said we have still had a good trophy laden season that we should not forget about. Yes we lost the Champions League but we won the league, the Carling Cup and the Fifa World Club Cup when you compare that to our league rivals who are all ending the season trophy-less, apart from the exception of Chelsea or Everton who play tomorrow for the FA Cup, then we have had a fantastic season.

The next challenge we face is how we improve. Sir Alex had said that he didn’t plan to make any major signings in the summer but many will be calling for new players to freshen things up. The constant rumours surrounding the future of Ronaldo in a Manchester United shirt are sure to raise their heads again with more links to Real Madrid.

Whatever happens in the summer we are sure to look back on this season as a success rather than a failure once the disappointment of Wednesday goes away.

Written by Danny Watson, a professional sports writer who blogs about football news.

United v Barcelona: "All roads lead to Rome"

Today will be 'the big game' between The Red Devils and Barcelona in Rome. The kick-off is at 19:45 GMT.

Now, I leave you a small talk with Anderson and his desires to win the trophy for second consecutive time in two years.

How much are you looking forward to the final?
Everybody knows that United and Barcelona are two great sides and it has all the makings of being a great final and one that will be talked about for many years to come. Getting to play in games like this with the chance to win trophies is the reason why we work so hard every day. I hope to be involved, but just being part of a team that is playing in a final is fantastic and I think it will be a very special occasion for every one of us.

Will you draw on the experience of last season’s showpiece?
Yes, of course. It’s always a great experience to play in a final and you learn many things. You understand how to better deal with certain situations and focus on the little things that you might have missed the last time round.

Will you take confidence from Barcelona's indifferent record against English sides?
Not really because every game is different. I’m sure Barcelona will be fully focused on doing well, just like we will be and it should be a great game.

How pleased have you been with your form of late?
I was injured for part of the season and coming back from that was a slow process because I had to get myself right physically and mentally. I’m enjoying my football at the moment and I hope I can keep helping the team to win trophies.

Are the players aware of the history you can create by becoming the first team to retain the trophy?
Of course. We have every intention of winning the trophy, but we would want that anyway no matter whether we were going for back-to-back wins. We always want to win every competition we play in and it’s our aim to do that on Wednesday.

I read this note from manutd.com. but if you want, you can go there and read the entire note.

So, Don`t miss this big game! I will be very anxious for being Champions of Europe again!!

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One on the bag, one more to go

We managed to clinch the title at the weekend without too much effort so now we can look forward to the Champions League final.

We are one game away from showing our dominance of European as well as English football. If we repeat the league and Champions League double we send out a clear message that we are planning to come back and do it again next year.

The side that will play in the league at the weekend is likely to be a much weakened team as we look to make sure that our best players are all fit to pull on the Man Utd jersey for the final.

Barcelona will be the toughest team we have faced this year but all of our players are hitting form at the right time and the momentum is definitely with us.

Written by Danny Watson, a professional sports writer who blogs about football news.

Let's go for the #18 premier league title!

Sir Alex Ferguson talking to press about his desire to win a new PL title.

Sir Alex Ferguson told his players that he wants play well and get a win this Saturday against Arsenal at Old Trafford.

"This game will be exactly the same to the UCL semi-final. They'll play in the same way and they will attack us all the time. I'm expecting a good game on Saturday," said the United boss.

The Scot also expressed his desire to lift the trophy at Old Trafford, as a rewards for the supporters.

Fact: In 10 times that United have won the Premier League title, it's only been won 1 time at Old Trafford.

Rio Ferdinand insist United will have to work hard to get a win against The Gunners.

"Our performances in both legs of the semi-final were two of our best performances of the season," says Rio.

"We can't allow them to play their game and must focus on getting the result we want," added the English defender.

Rio Ferdinand also advised for Andrey Arshavin. "He's someone we'll need to keep a close eye on." said Rio.

So, Do you think that we could lift the trophy this Saturday? Have your say!

By Paul 'Devil' Grippo

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Tevez shows his worth

Rumours around the future of Carlos Tevez refuse to go away, but he proved again last night what he brings to the team and how valuable a player he is for us.

The story with Tevez continually changes from it being pretty much certain he will stay, to pretty much certain he will go to now it looking likely that he will be offered a deal.

His work rate and contribution are second to none and he adds spark to the team whenever he plays. We know he can cut it in the Premiership so why would we not want to sign him and sign a player who will most likely be unproven in the premiership?

I personally hope we see Tevez in a Manchester United shirt next year as I would hate to see him playing for one of our rivals. He is definitely a player who could come back to haunt us.

Hopefully the whole saga will be over in the next few days and we can get on with the plans for the title celebrations!

Written by Danny Watson, a professional sports writer who blogs about football news.