NANI RULED OUT

The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that the winger Nani will be unavailable for the next 10 days after suffering a hamstring problem ahead of the visit to Aston Villa during the weekend. Manchester United recently went top of the table following the 2-1 win over Arsenal. This coupled with the 1-1 draw at Chelsea against Swansea meant that they now have a slender advantage over the Londoners in the title race. He will be looking to maintain that after this weekend as well. Nani has been subject of numerous transfer rumours in the last few days after Ferguson openly criticised him for his error in the 5-4 defeat against Chelsea.

As a result of this, Nani has been linked with a £ 25 million move to the likes of Juventus and Zenit St Petersburg. He has two years left on his current contract and holding out for around £ 120,000 per week. United are willing to offer him significantly lower, which means that the latest criticism from the manager will not have gone down well with the player. He will not be available for the matches against SC Braga in the Champions League and also Aston Villa during the weekend.

“Nani is out with a tight hamstring. It will be about 10 days. Jonny is a doubt. It is not a serious one. We are monitoring it and hopefully he will be OK. It is a daunting task to bring Aston Villa back to where everyone expects them to be. They have a great history. They won the European Cup in 1981. It is correct to say they have not matched their expectations over the years,” said Alex Ferguson. Nani has played very little football this season after falling out with the manager at the end of last season.