Soccer: Ins and Outs

Who is going, who is staying and who is going to reinforce themselves? Manchester United is certain to be on the prowl after Vidic and Fletcher have been ruled out for long periods through injury and illness. Benfica appears as a possible target for the Reds' interest...

Although Manchester United Football Club has a policy of not commenting on transfer policy, on the club's website are listed Benfica's Nicolas Gaitan (winger) and Javi Garcia (midfielder), both quoted by The Independent newspaper and by SKY News as having aroused the interest of Sir Alex Ferguson. Bolton Wanderers FC defender Gary Cahill is another name in the list, together with Anderlecht midfielder Lucas Biglia, Crystal Palace Defender Nathaniel Clyne and from the Netherlands, Jetro Willems (PSV Eindhoven, defender) and Rasmus Elm (AZ Alkmaar, midfielder). Milos Krasic, the Serbian winger, has also been linked in a loan move from Juventus until the end of the season.

Nemanja Vidic will be out for nine to twelve months with a serious cruciate ligament knee injury and Darren Fletcher, Scotland's captain, who has ulcerative colitis, will be taking "an extended break" from the game to send his condition back into remission.

Once again in the news in the UK is Carlos Tevez, out of favour at Manchester City, and not even sitting on the bench, after declarations that he wishes to leave the club and allegations that he refused to play in a match. Tottenham now appear as the main interested party inside the premiership (20 million GBP) but Tevez has been linked to AC Milan, Italy being reported to be the favourite destination for his wife, who dislikes England's cloudy skies.

Another striker in the news for the wrong reasons is Fernando Torres, who after a 50-million-pound move from Liverpool a year ago, has failed to make the mark at Chelsea FC and the London club is prepared to take a loss of 30 million pounds to offload the out-of-form Spaniard.

Aleksei Federov

Pravda.Ru