Spanish Football News Blog

Nemanja Vidic was never a loss to the diplomatic corps, to judge from his suggestion once that Manchester’s “main attraction is considered to be the timetable at the railway station, where trains leave for less rainy cities”.

He tried to retract the quote, but no one bought his disclaimer then and they certainly would not buy it now, not even if he came into training with an “I heart Manchester” tattoo or one proclaiming “United for life”.

Vidic’s mysterious withdrawal from the team to face Leeds United in the FA Cup has brought bubbling to the surface what those at Old Trafford have feared for a while: that, despite denials from his agent, the defender wants his own train ride to sunnier climes. A place like Real Madrid, for example.

His head has been turned and repeated demands for a new contract, even though he was given a big pay rise in November 2007, have begun to sound less like negotiating positions and more like ultimatums.

Now, not even Sir Alex Ferguson is attempting to hide the growing rift, declining to give an explanation for Vidic’s absence on Sunday. It is rare that the United manager chooses to expose an internal dispute to further probing from fascinated media and disgruntled supporters. We can deduce that his patience has run out.

As Vidic is likely to discover, the way of fans is to turn quickly on those players who show even the slightest hint of hankering for a move. But, in this case, terrace disgruntlement may not end there.

To lose one player to Real might be regarded as unfortunate; to lose a second so soon after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure would be interpreted as carelessness, even if United showered both players with medals and good salaries — everything, in fact, apart from Madrid’s glamour and sunshine.

It may not be of United’s making if Vidic’s wife, Ana, is unhappy with the weather and lifestyle, as was reported at the start of the season. And there is not much Ferguson can do about the work-life balance of the average Mancunian that caused Vidic to become so troubled in that disputed interview with a Russian football magazine.

“Here they just don’t have time to feel the joy of life,” he was quoted as saying. “They only talk to people at lunch break. Then in the evening they come home and watch the telly, so they can get up early for work the next day.”

It is not United’s fault but it is their problem given the justified, and mounting, concerns that theirs is a squad that is in need of a few high-class reinforcements and can ill afford to lose another senior player; a squad that is overly reliant on Wayne Rooney and that misses Darren Fletcher to an inordinate degree considering that, while he is a fine player, he is certainly no Roy Keane or Bryan Robson.

So although it is understandable to want shot of a defender who is distracted and whose absences had caused consternation at Old Trafford even before Sunday, who to replace Vidic, particularly given that Rio Ferdinand’s fitness can no longer be relied upon?

And how much money will be available for a new signing given the Glazers’ preoccupation with refinancing their vast debt in order to reduce annual interest payments that will rise above £80 million this year — money that could buy you a lot of good centre halves?

These are the worries that Vidic looks certain to leave behind, even though he was voted United’s player of the season in only the previous campaign, when fans and team-mates happily overlooked his occasional aberration, including his destruction by Fernando Torres in Liverpool’s 4-1 triumph.

They willingly tolerated an off-day because they trusted that Vidic was suffering as much as them — but now that trust may be shattered.

Source: The Times