Manchester United defender Gary Neville has retired from football with immediate effect. The last time the 35-year old played was in Man United's 2-1 win over West Brom on the first of January, which was his 602nd appearance for the club.

"I have been a Manchester United fan all my life and fulfilled every dream I've ever had. Obviously I am disappointed that my playing days are at an end, however it comes to us all, and it's knowing when that time is and for me that time is now," Neville told ManUtd.com

"I have played in the most incredible football teams, playing with some of the best players in the world as well as against them and I have been lucky to have been part of the team's achievements and the club's great success.

"There are so many people I want to thank and, of course, top of that list is Sir Alex [Ferguson]. He has given me so many opportunities and countless support over the last 20 years - he is truly one of the greatest managers - and I have to thank him for that."

Since signing for Man United in 1991, Neville has gone on to win eight Premier League trophies, the Champions League, three FA Cups, two League Cups, the Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Rodrigo Possebon is set to leave Manchester United for Brazilian side Santos. The deal is not yet done but a four-year contract should be finalised tomorrow.

The 21-year old joined Man United in January 2008, unfortunetly his time will most be remembered for the injury he suffered against Middlesbrough in the League Cup in 2008.

According to Santos’ website, Possebon has said: "It is a pleasure to be at a club like this. It is a unique opportunity and I will work hard to give my best here. I hope to play a lot of football."

“It was a great experience playing in Europe and I have made progress as a player. Now, I want to adapt as quickly as possible, “

Possebon only managed to make eight appearances for the first team, five of which were after coming on off the bench. Possebon went out on loan to Sporting Braga at the start of the 2009/10 season but returned to United in January 2010 after only making one appearance.

Former Man United striker Diego Forlan has so far been impressive in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, after a few quotes from a United coach, he is now being linked with a move back to Old Trafford.

Forlan has so far has netted three goals in five matches for Uruguay, helping them to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

The 31-year old was at Manchester United for two years (2002-2004) and it’s fair to say that during that period, he was a flop. During those two years, he only scored 10 league goals for United.

He left United for Villarreal, staying there until 2007 when he signed for Atletico Madrid, who he still currently plays for. He has now managed to re-ignite his form and career.

Meulensteen told Voetbal International: “Diego was at the wrong place at the wrong time. But we had some individual training with Diego, for months we worked hard.

“I told him, ‘what you learn here, you will take with you’. You are a player who adds something to every squad.

“He has developed fantastically, so complete – a top athlete. I really would welcome him back to Manchester United.”

United’s coach has also revealed that he sent Forlan a text message after scoring both goals in Atletico’s 2-1 win over Fulham in the Europa Cup final back in May.

The text from Meulensteen apparently read: "Top class, if it's up to me you will return to us."

It is thought that Forlan’s reply said: "I am ready for it."

My gut feeling is that this move probably won’t happen. His performances in the World Cup will have added a few extra million on his price tag, which United probably can’t afford. Not only that but if Sir Alex Ferguson is going to buy another striker, he is more likely to go for a younger one.

Former Man United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has been linked with a move back to Old Trafford, despite only leaving last summer.

Ronaldo has admitted that he does miss Manchester United but he is not likely to return. He’s bound to miss the club, he was there for six years but he’s now a Real Madrid player.

"Yes, of course I miss Manchester," he said in the Daily Mirror.
He was asked if there was a possibility of him returning, his reply was: "No, I don't think I'll be going back."

I never really expected him to return, by the time he leaves Real Madrid, he won’t be at his best. We’re talking years away, but will United really want a play who isn’t at the top of his game?

Ronaldo has also been quick to defend his former teammate Wayne Rooney. After England’s 0-0 draw against Algeria last Friday, Rooney has been blamed by many. Quite rightly Ronaldo has pointed out that it wasn’t only Rooney’s fault.

"Wayne Rooney tried very hard, he's always like that, but he didn't play alone. So it's difficult, when it's not coming, when you don't score a goal or play well, it is always the big players' fault."

"Wayne is a great player and will do a good job. He'll try very hard to do a good job. I saw England's games and I'm quite surprised they didn't win them."

Rooney wasn’t at his best, the whole team weren’t at their best but you can’t just blame one player. There was a lot wrong with England, over both games, from team selections to the wrong formation, to lay the blame at Rooney’s door is unfair. 

Every Manchester United fan should know what the Green and Gold campaign is about by now, if you don’t where have you been?

Ben Foster has only just joined Birmingham City from Man United but he has already had his say on this campaign. He believes that it could affect the players on the pitch. He has also taken what could be considered as a parting swipe aimed at the United fans.

“There's maybe too much made of it by the supporters. They are obviously passionate about Manchester United, but sometimes they need to focus on supporting the club a bit more than getting carried away with the technicalities of who's in charge.

“Personally, I think the Glazers have always put money in to Manchester United to buy players when needed.

Having said that, I don't think the manager needs to buy too many players there anyway. They have a lot of good youngsters coming through the ranks.”

“However, it's a bit of a distraction when the fans are chanting at every game.”

The Green and Gold campaign is all about making an impact, the chanting and the scarves is getting the campaign media attention.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I get what Foster is saying, it might affect the players but the Glazers have to go! The club is in over £700 million worth of debt and it’s only going to get worse and something has to be done about it. The fans are only doing what they can to save their club.

It was the comments that followed that surprised me. Most United fans have backed Foster and to come out with something that sounds like a swipe is a shame.

Foster went on to say that he is looking forward to playing in front of the Birmingham fans, who will support the team.

“They are fans who are always going to get behind the team and it is nice to know I am joining a club like that.

“They are not the kind of supporters who boo the team off.

‘“At the bigger teams some fans expect too much sometimes.

“Whereas at Birmingham the fans are very happy to be involved in the Premier League.”

It could of course have come across totally wrong and he didn’t mean it like that at all.

It has been announced today that goalkeeper Ben Foster has left Manchester United. He has joined Premier League side Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal.

Foster only managed to make 13 appearances for United during the 2009/10 season. He did play in some big games such as United’s 2-1 win over Arsenal at Old Trafford, the 4-3 win over Manchester City at Old Trafford and both Champions League matches against Besiktas.

Unfortunately for Foster he did have a couple of shaky moments, he lacked confidence and was unable to take advantage of Edwin Van Der Sar’s absence. Instead it was Tomasz Kuszczak who became United’s number two keeper, pushing Foster down to number three in the pecking order.

Understandably Foster wanted to play regular first team football and has now moved to St Andrew’s. Sir Alex Ferguson has said during a press conference that young keeper Ben Amos will not be going out on loan like first planned; instead he will become United’s third choice keeper.

It’s a shame to see Foster leave but good luck to him.

If Manchester United want winger Angel di Maria then it rumours have it that it will be United midfielder Anderson who may have to pay the price.

The Argentine International has a price tag rumoured to be around the £38 million mark, which United are unlikely to pay. But a compromise could be made, which would see Man United midfielder Anderson plus £10 million be exchanged for the winger.

The 22 year-old who is currently plying his trade with Portuguese side Benfica has also been linked with other clubs such as Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Di Maria could be a fantastic edition to the squad; he’s an exciting prospect who could flourish at Man United. He’s got bags of talent and a lot of skill, well worth watching on youtube if you have a spare few minutes.

Anderson’s had a mixed season for United, there have been a few descent performances but he did disappear off to Brazil, he returned and unfortunately for him, his season ended early after a rupturing a cruciate ligament. His main issue is that he is inconsistent, if he improves that; we’d probably see him playing in the first team more often.

Is Sir Alex ready to call time on Anderson’s career at Old Trafford? At £38 million, that’s probably too expensive for United, especially for one player.

Realistically United can’t afford that price tag, there are reports that United are considering selling Zoran Tosic. He may not be worth as much as Anderson but he could be used as a bargaining deal, if he is already on the way out of the club. Just a thought and probably won't go any further than that!

Ahead of this summers World Cup; the provisional 30-man squads have been announced, with England manager Fabio Capello naming three Man United players.

Rio Ferdinand (England captain), Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick were all named. There had been rumours that Owen Hargreaves would be included but after being on the pitch for 31 seconds for the first team, he wasn’t named.

It has also been revealed that Paul Scholes turned down the chance to come out of retirement, instead he chose to spend some time with his family.

Wes Brown wasn’t named, which was a bit of a surprise considering that he played for England during the qualifying stages, unlike Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher, who has decided that he’s finished sulking, he will come out of retirement and play for England again, he has been included.

Gary Neville and Ben Foster also weren’t included in the England squad. That’s not really much of a surprise, Neville probably wouldn’t get a game and Foster has hardly played this season and Capello made it clear that if players don’t play for their clubs- they won’t be included!

Other United players named in their International squads are- Patrice Evra (France), Ji-Sung Park (South Korea), Nemanja Vidic (Serbia), Zoran Tosic (Serbia) and Luis Nani (Portugal).

Man United’s potential summer signing (subject to a work permit) Javier Hernandez has been named I the Mexico 30-man squad.

After Liverpool’s abysmal performance against Chelsea last weekend there have been many conspiracy theories. United captain Gary Neville believes that he and his team-mates only have themselves to blame if Chelsea win the Premier League this Sunday.

"When you leave it in the hands of others you have to take the punishment for it," Neville told MUTV.

"We hope that something happens on Sunday and we live in hope. If you had asked us after the Blackburn game we would have said all hope was gone.

"But we will be kicking ourselves on Sunday if it doesn't go our way. The mistakes we have made have been unusual. Hopefully we don't live to regret it."

The title race is going right down to the wire, with Chelsea in pole position. It isn’t over, but looking very unlikely that United will win their fourth consecutive Premier League title.

The loss to Chelsea on the 3rd April was a major setback, and to make matters worse, the match was decided by poor referring decisions.

Chelsea went on to beat Bolton 1-0 whilst United had another setback after drawing 0-0 with Blackburn Rovers. It was a must win game but without Wayne Rooney, United didn’t have the cutting edge needed.

Man United had a bit of hope after Chelsea slipped up and lost 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur but we still needed them to drop some points.

We’ve gone on to beat Man City 1-0, Spurs 3-1 and last weekend Sunderland 1-0. Chelsea beat Stoke 7-0 and Liverpool 2-0.

This weekend we have to hope that Wigan can go down to Stamford Bridge and take some points off Chelsea. United will have to get their job done at Old Trafford against Stoke.

Looking back over the season, United have dropped 3 points against Burnley, Liverpool, Chelsea (twice), Aston Villa, Fulham and Everton.

United have only picked up one point against Sunderland, Birmingham, Aston Villa and Blackburn.

Some of those matches should really have been won and overall that’s what’s cost us.

Liverpool could have helped and should have played an awful lot better but how likely was it that they were ever going to help Man United win a 19th League title? Not likely at all.

I believed, like many others, that it was density that Man United were going to meet Real Madrid in the Champions League this season. There had been a few seasons of animosity between United and Real Madrid over their pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo, last summer the Spanish club finally got their man.

United comfortably got through to quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday after a 4-0 (7-2 on aggregate) win over AC Milan. Real Madrid played Lyon on the same day; they had to recover from a 1-0 loss in France, in the first leg.

Madrid did go 1-0 up courtesy of a Ronaldo goal but with an away goal scored by Miralem Pjanic with just 15 minutes remaining that was enough to knock out Madrid.

I honestly believed we would play this season, I would have loved to play them but it is just as amusing to see them go out at this stage, especially after all the money they spent during the summer.

If we had played them, how would we have stopped Ronaldo? Well if you are Sir Alex Ferguson, then the only way is by using a machine gun.

"In my mind, I had a thought that, somewhere along the line, we were going to meet them [Real Madrid] and Ronaldo would be up against us,” Sir Alex said.

"We would have needed a machine gun to stop him!"

"I am disappointed for Ronaldo not having qualified. We had someone at the game [against Lyon] and the report was he [Ronaldo] was absolutely fantastic.”

Thats one way to stop him, I suppose.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been talking at the launch of Nike’s new football boot (if you’re interested it’s called the Mercurial Superfly Vapor II), he was quizzed on many things, one of which was Wayne Rooney.

Rooney has been in fine form for Man United this season, apart from one exception (the Everton game). Many are saying that Rooney is a contender for World Player Of The Year and it is hard to think of a reason why he shouldn’t.

Ronaldo said: "I know the quality Rooney has - he is always brilliant. Not just this season.


"For me Rooney is still the same player - he is fantastic, a winning guy. I don't know if this possible but I hope my friend in Manchester and I can play again. Why not? Anything is possible."

Ronaldo went on to say that he still speaks to some of his former colleagues since his £80 million move to Madrid.


"I speak with the boss Ferguson sometimes. Also Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Nani. I haven’t finished my relationship with these guys."

Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo has refused to rule out moving back to his former club Manchester United. Ronaldo left United during the 2009 summer transfer window for a record breaking £80 million fee.

Ronaldo has admitted that he is missing life at Old Trafford and he has hinted that he may possibly return one day.

"Of course I miss playing for Manchester United," Ronaldo told The News of the World. "I played there for six years and that's a long time.

"I am still interested in watching Manchester United and, you never know, maybe in the future I could return to play there. It's always possible.

"I want to fulfil my contract here but, in the future, only God knows. I will not say I am not happy here at Real Madrid.

"I am really happy and everyone knows this is my club but, of course, I miss Manchester United, the boss, the players, because I left family there."

League one side Wycome Wanderers have signed Man United goalkeeper Tom Heaton on loan until the end of the season.

23-year old Heaton hasn’t made a senior appearance for United but this loan deal will hopefully see him play some matches and gain some experience.

Wycombe’s boss Gary Waddock told their official website:

"I'm delighted to have signed someone of his quality"

"Coming from a club like United and with the league experience he has gained, I'm sure that Tom will be a very good acquisition.

"Manchester United have been very helpful in letting Tom join us and I'm looking forward to working with him."

Heaton has previously spent time out on loan with Swindon Town, Royal Antwerp, Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers and most recently Rochdale

Thanks to two goals from former Man United striker Louis Saha, Everton beat Chelsea 2-1 at Goodison Park on Wednesday. That defeat for Chelsea left them only one point ahead of Man United in the Premier League table, after the 10-men of United drew 1-1 with Aston Villa.

Man United’s next Premier League game is against Everton but Saha has said that he would be delighted if United won a fourth consecutive title.

"I'd love to say Everton are going to win the league but obviously that's not going to happen," Saha told the Guardian.

"Chelsea are very strong but I think United are better, and personally I would be delighted if they won it.

"I'd definitely prefer that,"

"But I will probably have more messages and calls than ever after this result [the win over Chelsea]. Our win was a big boost for United but the main thing has to be Everton, and taking us as high up the table as possible."
"I still keep in touch with a lot of them from United, especially Patrice Evra. Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves are on the phone a lot, and they've got a really good bunch of guys.

British tabloid The Sun are claiming that Man United captain Gary Neville has been frozen out because of his gesture towards Carlos Tevez.

During the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final’s former Man United striker Tevez gestured towards Neville. The day before an interview with Neville had been made public, when asked if Tevez was worth the amount City paid for, Neville had replied no. Tevez response was to gesture towards Neville telling him to keep his mouth shut, Neville responded by showing Tevez his middle finger.

This incident was repeated over and over again on a TV channel, Sir Alex Ferguson’s response was to ban the channel from his press conferences. The Sun claim that Sir Alex is so angry with Neville he is now being frozen out.

Neville was not in the squad for the game against Arsenal, even though he wasn’t injured.

I personally wouldn’t have been angry with Neville, he didn’t say anything bad about Tevez and was being provoked. I think many people would have reacted the same way.

Man United winger Luis Nani joined Man United in the summer of 2007. When he came, he was labelled as the next Cristiano Ronaldo. I think it is fair to say that he has looked nothing like a replacement to Ronaldo, until recently.

After returning from an injury, Nani has looked like a new player. Nani has played the last three games and he has shone, yesterday probably being the best.

“I played well,” Nani said. “I scored one goal, provided an assist and had a few other chances to score. It was a fantastic performance and I’m happy to help my team win this game.”

"Of course it's my goal," he added. "I put the ball into the goal so it should be my goal. I did everything to make it happen. I was very confident and the dribble worked very well. I'm really happy to contribute to today's win."

Nani also said: “I’m working hard every day to be fit and ready to play. I’m very happy because I feel the confidence from my team-mates, the manager and the fans. I hope I can continue to show good form. I'm feeling better with every game I play."

I’m not sure whether or not he will be credited with the goal but he did deserve it. I would probably bet on it being put down as a Manuel Almunia own goal rather than a Nani goal.

Nani’s improvement hasn’t been missed by Sir Alex Ferguson, how could he notice the difference?


“Nani's last three games have been absolutely first class and today was his best,” Fergie said. "He was absolutely outstanding.


“It’s difficult to say why we’re seeing his best form now, but maybe maturity is one reason. He’s a very shy boy and maybe his personality is getting stronger and better for dealing with playing for us every week. Today was an example of that maturity.

"Hopefully games like that will give him the confidence to know he’s a United player. When you talk to the other players, they all want him to play, they all think he’s fantastic."

What we don’t want to do now is get over excited. Nani has played well for three consecutive matches, he needs to stay in the team and keep his confidence high but we don’t want to put too much pressure on him.

It wasn’t that long ago that some Man United fans were calling for the player to be sold. Right now, Man United aren’t missing Ronaldo and if Nani can carry on this way, we won’t.

Hopefully he can keep this up and keep consistant.

Carlos Tevez has had jet another swipe at his former club Man United. Ahead of a massive semi-final second leg derby match tomorrow, Tevez believes that he is now at the right club (who pays him lots of money) and things just weren’t right at Old Trafford.

Tevez said: “I feel I’ve shown I’m at the right club now. Everyone knows how important the fans are at this club and, if I make them happy, it’s an honour.”

“I think the United fans know I tried hard. City is my club now, a place where I feel part of everything. Maybe this wasn’t always the way at United.”

“I wasn’t happy about some things there.”

When Tevez was at Man United, he couldn’t have got anymore support from the fans. The fans were 100% behind him so that couldn’t have been the problem.

Maybe he wasn’t happy about not playing all the time but he hasn’t played all the time at City either. I still honestly believe that it was all about money, I read somewhere that he got a 75% pay rise when he moved to City, most people would move for that.

So whilst Tevez is bitching about Man United, his former team-mate Wayne Rooney has had some nice things to say about the Argentine.

"Carlos was a lovely fella, an honest player who ran for 90 minutes every week and you can't ask for more from a team-mate," the Man United striker told FourFourTwo magazine.

"I think he realised early on that I'm quite an unselfish player, that if he was in a better position I would give him the ball and that if he stayed up I would drop back to cover.


"We had that great bond where we'd work for each other and, because we lived round the corner from one another, we'd drive each other to training or drive to the airport together for away games."

I did notice when reading though that Rooney says Tevez ‘was’ a lovely fella. Does that mean he isn’t anymore?

It is amazing how quickly your feelings for a footballer can change. Last season Man United’s fans loved Carlos Tevez and would have done anything to keep him at the club. This season he is hated, not just because he joined bitter rivals Manchester City but because is acting like a prat.

After leaving United he made a few comments about Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson (who is worshipped by Man United fans) so obviously he was badly booed at Old Trafford. Being booed upset him and ever since then he has tried his best to wind the fans, players and manager up.

Ahead of the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final, Man United captain Gary Neville said that Tevez wasn’t worth £25 million. That made Tevez unhappy, now I am sorry but seriously Tevez, no footballer is worth that amount of money. Haiti is a perfect example, they need money over there and over here we have footballers who aren’t happy when someone says they aren’t worth £25 million. It is a stupid amount of money to spend on a person and I don’t care who it is.

Tevez scored twice against Man United in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final and one of his celebrations was aimed at Neville. Tevez basically told Neville to keep his mouth shut. Neville’s reply was to show him the middle finger.

Since then, Tevez has done a few interviews, in the latest with ESPN radio, Tevez has called Neville a ‘boot-licker’.

Tevez said "In all the press here, Gary Neville came out and stood by Ferguson's comments, saying that I wasn't worth £25million.


"I thought he was in the wrong because we were team-mates and I never disrespected him, I always respected him.


"I feel he was a boot-licker when he stood by Ferguson's comments that I wasn't worth that money.


"From a former team-mate it hurts, from a coach it doesn't surprise me."

Maybe he wasn’t being a boot-licker, maybe he just agreed with Sir Alex. This probably won’t bother Neville in the slightest but I wouldn’t want to be Tevez next Wednesday at Old Trafford.

Mame Biram Diouf has got his Man United career off to a fantastic start. First he bagged himself a goal during his debut at Old Trafford whilst playing for the first team. Last night he got himself a hat trick whilst playing for Man United’s reserve team.

Unfortunately for the 22-year old he had to be replaced after picking up a slight injury but he has earned praise from reserve team coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

"Diouf is a young lad and he will get his chances but he is one that we have brought in for the future," Solskjaer told Telegraph Sport.
"He is a different kind of player to what we have up front. Of course, when you sign players you hope that they are going to establish themselves as first team players.
"He has fantastic potential. He is a fantastic athlete and he has a fantastic attitude plus he is a good finisher as you saw here tonight so we are very pleased for far with the start that he has made."

"I don't think I need to give him any advice because I have already got to know him a bit. I have seen him in Norway and I have spoken to him a bit and he is very down to earth and he knows what he wants." 

During Man United’s 4-0 victory over Sunderland’s reserves, Federico Macheda made his comeback from injury and Ben Foster kept a clean sheet in goal.

"It is very pleasing that he [Macheda] has come back," Solskjaer said. "He has been out for a very long time which has been difficult for him and now is the time for him to kick on and keep working hard.
"He got 20 minutes under his belt and I know it is only reserve team football but that is important to him." 

"Ben made three magnificent saves - two in the second half, one in the first. He has always been a good shot-stopper but he is maturing all the time in his overall play. His understanding of when to quicken it up and his cross-taking- everything has improved a lot."

It was confirmed last night that Danny Simpson has left Man United and joined Championship side Newcastle United. Simpson has been on loan at the Newcastle after not being able to make it into the Man United side.

Over recent days Simpson has made it clear that he wanted to sign a permanent deal with Newcastle and that is exactly what happened.

Newcastle manager Chris Hughton: "We're delighted to complete a permanent deal for Danny.

"He's a player who has been with us since the summer and has played a key role during the first half of the season.

"Danny is a very popular lad in the dressing room and he took no time at all to settle in. He was always a player we wanted to keep at the club and he was very keen to stay given how much he's enjoyed being here."

Many believe that Simpson will become a fantastic player so all you can really do is wish good luck to him.