Ferdinand and Co receive heroes' welcome in Shanghai as they prepare to face the Drog

Manchester United have touched down in Shanghai as their globetrotting pre-season exploits continue. Rio Ferdinand was a prominent figure at the airport in a red baseball cap which featured his Manchester United number on the front.

Fergie: Back off the Glazers. They're doing a great job! Supporters are still angry over United owners putting club £425m in debt, but manager denies problems

 

Sir Alex Ferguson has launched a passionate defence of the Glazer family, insisting: ‘They have always backed me whenever I have asked them for anything.’

In a far-reaching interview here at the first phase of the team’s strenuous pre-season programme, the Manchester United manager rubbished suggestions that the mountainous debt incurred by the American owners of the club was hampering his buying plans.
‘I’m absolutely comfortable with the Glazers situation. They’ve been great,’ he said. ‘So if you’re asking me for my views, I don’t have any complaints.

Relaxed: Sir Alex Ferguson has no concerns about the Glazer family

‘I’ve never encountered opposition. They’ve always been as  sensible as they can be in terms of financing the team, and they have to invest in the team to maintain the value of their asset.’
The fiercely strong anti-Glazer feeling among United’s rank and file following has grown with the recent revelation that the family are trying to float the club on the New York Stock Exchange in order to raise about £200million to help relieve the debt built up in buying United seven years ago.

 

That currently stands at £423m, with the club having spent more than £500m on interest, debt repayments and fees since 2005.
‘I think there are a whole lot of factions at United that think they own the club,’ said Ferguson. ‘They will always be contentious about whoever owns the club, and that’s the way it has always been.
‘When I came to the club, Martin Edwards was always getting pelted because he was going to sell to  [Robert] Maxwell, then to [Rupert] Murdoch, Michael Knighton, and when they became a plc there was disaffection.

In the background: Glazer brothers Avram and Joel shun publicity

‘Then, when the Glazers took over, there was disaffection, so there have always been wee pockets of supporters who have their views… and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I think the majority of the real fans will look at it realistically and say it’s not affecting the team. We’ve won four championships since they’ve been there, one European Cup.
‘I think the problem is they [the Glazers] are not publicists. They don’t go out of their way to seek good publicity. They are quite happy to stay in the background. Roman Abramovich is the same.’
United are valued as the richest sports franchise in the world, at £1.5billion, mainly as a result of the efforts of Ferguson, whose haul of 48 trophies since he took over 25 years ago has made him the most successful football manager in British history. And now, giving little indication that his tenure is even close to ending, the 70-year-old Scot is as enthusiastic as ever about the future.
Citing the vast improvements to make the Carrington training complex one of the best in the world as evidence of the Glazers’ investment, he said: ‘Look at what they are spending on the training ground.

Investment: The Glazers have invested £30m into improving United's Carrington Training Ground and new players such as Shinji Kagawa have come into the squad

‘It’s going to be fantastic. At the moment it’s a bit of a bombsite, but it’s supposed to be completed by October and we just hope it’s ready on time. They’ll be spending about £30m and its all down to them.’
Ferguson responded to fans’ frustration at the lack of summer transfer activity by insisting he was not prepared to fork out inflated transfer fees. Responding to the fans’ clamour for a £30million-plus signing, he said: ‘Well they can wait!
‘We buy in the right way and that’s the difference between United and the rest — we can play 18-year-olds because it’s part of our history. It’s like a destiny for us that when a young player emerges we play him, and that has never failed us.

Coming to the rescue: Bebe celebrates scoring deep into injury time against Ajax Cape Town

‘No other clubs can do that. City won’t do it. They definitely won’t play any young players who have come up through the system. Their buys are all 25, 26, 27-year-old established players with a good maturity, experience and good ages. They won’t go away because the age group tells you that. They don’t have any over-30s in their team.
They don’t play any young players and the fans don’t expect any youth players to come through the way we expect them to at United.’
While Chelsea have spent huge amounts to sign the likes of Eden Hazard, the United boss has spent a total of about £20m to bring in Japan forward Shinji Kagawa and teenage midfielder Nick Powell.

Inexperienced side: Antonio Valencia is one of Manchester United's senior players on the pre-season tour as 13 players are still away

‘There is a borderline in terms of what you would think is a good signing for United,’ said Ferguson. ‘I see some values on players, like Hazard for instance. To me it was a lot of money. He’s a good player, but £34m?
‘What we’re finding anyway, the climate for buying these top players — not just the transfer fees, [but]  the salaries, agent’s fees — is just getting ridiculous now. In the Hazard deal, Chelsea paid the agent £6m. The Nasri situation was the same.
‘It’s all about what you think is value for a player. I am not envious of those deals at all. We placed a value on Hazard which was well below what they were talking about. So if it doesn’t work, well we’re not worried about that. We think we’ve got good value in Kagawa.

Young hope: United spent £4m on Crewe's Nick Powell

‘We scout well. Sometimes we do the scouting for other clubs. The minute the agent knew we’d spoken to Powell, I think every club was in with offers. But we’d done the deal.
‘Whenever we show interest in a player it activates the situation with other clubs. But we’ve done well over the years. We’ve bought well, one or two bad ones, no doubt about that, but you handle that.
‘The big difference is when the academy started 10 years ago we had to change our scouting in terms of abroad. So that’s increased. Looking at countries like Brazil, Mexico and through South America. France, too, we’re all over Europe now.’

 

Fergie on Retirement

Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted that Manchester United will still continue to enjoy great success even after he decides to end his reign as manager.
Asked if he thought there would be life after him at United, he said: ‘Of course. Manchester United are an institution and the history here forces everything.’
Ferguson hinted that any successor would have to have had a wealth of experience managing at the top level. But he scoffed at the idea that following him would be a daunting prospect.

Not ready to go just yet: Ferguson says he still enjoys working at Manchester United

Would he like to follow himself into this job? ‘Yes, definitely. Why not? It cannot be an impossible job with the structure we have at this club.
‘I don’t think the club will choose a young manager because it is a job that demands experience. The future is absolutely solid. If you look at the team I could play all under 22 or 23, De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Jones, Evans. Cleverley, Powell, Chicharito, Lingard, Welbeck, Kagawa. These players will become the United team for the next three or four years.
‘It would not be a daunting prospect to follow me.’

 

On holiday: Wayne Rooney is not expected back at training until July 26 after playing at Euro 2012

Fergie on Rooney

Wayne Rooney and United’s other top players may not be fully tuned up for the start of the new season because of their summer international commitments.
The club have a comparatively inexperienced squad on their pre-season tour to South Africa and the Far East, with many regulars not due to return to training until later this week.
‘We’ve got 13 players who are not here from the squad,’ said manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
‘Evans, Jones and Vidic are still recovering from operations and treatment for their injuries.
‘With the Euros, Nani, Rooney, Young, Jones, Evra won’t be back until July 26. Then we’ve got four more players (Giggs, Cleverley, De Gea and Rafael) at the Olympic Games. So it is difficult.
‘We’ve bought Shinji Kagawa and we don’t even know who he’s going to be playing with.
‘The rest of the squad won’t be playing until the game against Valerenga on August 5. It’s definitely an awkward feeling.’

Former Super Eagles defender loses N800M duplex to fire in Ibadan

An early Sunday morning fire has razed to the ground the duplex of ex-Barcelona and Eagles star Gbenga Okunowo in Ibadan.
 
According to Okunowo,  his house was completely razed to the ground by a fire which came from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) premises next door to his house on Ring Road in Ibadan.
‘My whole house is gone. Even the clothes, boxers and slippers I’m wearing now were given to me by friends,’ he lamented.
His passport, his European residence papers, medals, trophies and other properties were all lost in the fire which started around 2.30am today from the PHCN compound next to his house.

Van Persie refuses to go on pre-season tour as City, United and Juventus lodge £15m bids

Manchester United and Manchester City have made £15million bids for wantaway Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, who has refused to join his team-mates on the pre-season tour of the Far East.

The Premier League giants have been joined in the race for the Dutchman's signature by Juventus who have also made an official approach.
Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed United's bid after touching down in Cape Town during their summer tour.
He told MUTV: 'Obviously Arsenal have given out the fact that we've made a bid for him. We try to keep business as close as possible to us until the moment we conclude a deal. There's no point talking about something that might not happen.

Which was it out? Robin van Persie chats to Theo Walcott on Friday

On his way: Van Persie was all smiles in training amid his exit plans

 

'There are other clubs interested in the player. We've shown an interest and that's where we're at at the moment.'
Van Persie trained with his Arsenal team-mates on Friday morning and looked relaxed.

Arsenal are holding out for at least £20m for Van Persie, whose contract expires next summer.
Manager Arsene Wenger wants a quick resolution to the Van Persie saga so he can either prepare for the new season with the Dutchman in his plans or have enough time to find a replacement.
Arsenal had been adamant their captain will make the trip to Malaysia on Saturday, but he will now remain behind, which surely signals the beginning of the end of his Gunners career.

Interest: Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson arrives in Cape Town on Friday

Arsenal fly to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday for a three-match tour. Arsenal play City at the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing next Friday.

Sportsmail understands Wenger and his scouting team have spoken at depth about a move for Spain forward Fernando Llorente should their talisman leave.
The 27-year-old - who scored 28 goals for Bilbao last season - has a £28million release clause written into his contract.
And Wenger would use the £20m-plus from Van Persie's sale in his attempt to lure the striker.

New man: Olivier Giroud trained with Arsenal on Friday as he settles in at the club

Wish you were here? Arsenal target Fernando Llorente and his girlfriend in Ibiza

At 6ft 5ins, Wenger believes Llorente has the physical attributes and ability on the ball to deal with the rigours of English football.
But whether Bilbao would be willing to negotiate a deal below his hefty release clause remains unclear.
In addition to Llorente, Fiorentina Stevan Jovetic and Borussia Dortmund's Robert Lewandowski have also been discussed as possible replacements for Van Persie.

Sydney 2000 Olympics: IOC awards Nigeria 4×400 metres Gold medal

After 12 years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially re-awarded Nigeria with the gold medal in the 4×400 metres relay event of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
The Nigerian team which was made up of the late Sunday Bada and Jude Monye, Clement Chukwu as well as Enefiok Udo-Ubong were initially given the silver medal, but after a meeting of the IOC’s executive board, Nigeria was elevated as the winners with Jamaica taking silver and the Bahamas winning the bronze medal.
Nigeria takes the gold originally won by the United States, who has been disqualified owing to the late Antonio Pettigrew’s confession, to having taken performance enhancing drugs at the time of the games.
The IOC also stripped American Crystal Cox of her gold medal, which she won for the 4×400 meters relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Cox, the Athens relay alternate, was banned for four years in 2010 for using performance-enhancing drugs. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency had said Cox had used prohibited anabolic agents between 2001 and 2004.
The IOC’s Executive Board, however, did not make any decision on the other relay runners in the team, saying it was up to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to decide if all the runners on the U.S. team would be stripped of their medals.
Russia were second in that race and Jamaica won bronze. Britain finished fourth. Should the IAAF decide, as it has done in similar cases, to strip the medals from all team athletes, these countries will be moved up to gold, silver and bronze.
The other members of the US 4×400 team for 2004 games were Monique Henderson, Monique Hennagan, Sanya Richards and Deedee Trotter.
Pettigrew, who committed suicide in 2010, had been disqualified in 2008 from the 4x400m race in Sydney where the United States won gold with a team that which included Michael Johnson and the 400m race where he finished seventh. Pettigrew had admitted to doping.
The IOC had delayed reallocating the medals, awaiting any new information from an on-going investigation into an American doping scandal.

Manchester United crank up Van Persie chase as Ferguson admits Berbatov is off

Manchester United will intensify efforts to prise Robin van Persie from Arsenal, after Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed he is willing to let Dimitar Berbatov go.

Wantaway Berbatov set up Federico Macheda for the only goal of United’s opening South Africa tour game against Amazulu.
Meanwhile, reports in Italy, claimed that United have had a bid for the Dutchman rejected by Arsenal.

In and out: Robin van Persie is wanted by Sir Alex Ferguson while Dimitar Berbatov's (below) Manchester United future looks increasingly uncertain

 

Van Persie is in danger of pricing himself out of a move to Juventus after the Turin giants switched their attention to Stevan Jovetic.
The Fiorentina forward could cost Juve £23million. Van Persie, 29 next month, has rejected Arsenal’s offer of £130,000 a week and Juve know they can secure Jovetic, 22, for £45,000 a week.
Manchester City have been favourites to strike a deal for Van Persie.
Ferguson’s only comment was on Berbatov’s desire to leave Old Trafford, possibly moving to Galatasaray for £5million or even returning to Tottenham.
'I do not need to herald the abilities of Dimitar Berbatov, he is a fantastic talent,' said Ferguson. 'Last season he didn't quite get the amount of football he wants. At his age, it was difficult for him to accept his position in the forward line.

Welcome: Shinji Kagawa made his debut for Manchester United...

... as Federico Macheda scored the winner in a pre-season friendly in South Africa

'He had Rooney, Welbeck and Hernandez in front of him, and they are all young men. The boy has a future, but if he wants to leave it is a different matter.
'I am easy about it if he stays. I would be happy with that. But if someone comes in and Dimitar wants to leave, we will assess it.'
Berbatov released a statement on his Facebook site last week revealing his frustrations at a summer of speculation.

Meet the locals: Sir Alex Ferguson had earlier met with children in Durban as part of his role as UNICEF ambassador

It said: ‘I am tired of speculation,’ he said on his Facebook page.
‘I read the papers and I see they say £10million is my price. I go and talk with Sir Alex, and he says to me £5m.
‘So who is telling the truth?  I love this club, but I’m not going to be useful to anyone if I am not playing.
‘I want to play, I want to help. But for unknown reasons it’s not going to happen or my chances will be limited, so it’s better for everyone if we say goodbye.
‘If not, I am professional and I will keep doing everything I can to help my team and my  team-mates, whenever I have the opportunity to do so.’
Emil Dantchev, his agent, said on Tuesday: ‘Dimitar likes Serie A and would be happy to discuss a move [to AC Milan].’
He only played 21 times for United last season as he was overlooked in favour of Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez as Wayne Rooney's strike partner.

Arsenal can still win the league without spending silly money, insists Wenger

 Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal can still win the Barclays Premier League despite not being able to match the outlay of some rivals.

The Gunners are without a trophy since winning the FA Cup seven years ago and have not won the title since 2004.
Big-spending Chelsea and Manchester City have enjoyed domestic success since then, while Arsenal have been criticised by some supporters for not splashing the cash.

Defiant: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

 

That, though, does not mean the north Londoners should not hold title ambitions, according to Wenger.
'Firstly, I must say that not being able to match the spending of the richest clubs does not mean that you can't compete with them on the pitch,' he told Time Out Hong Kong.
'When I first came to England, this question did not exist. Every club was run within its resources.
'The Chelseas and the Man Citys are new problems. But with this new financial environment, what has not changed at all is our policy that we will be as ambitious as ever and spend the money that we have available, if possible in an intelligent and wise way.
'We have always spent money because we are ambitious for top-class players and if you look at the history of our last 15 years, we have always had top-class players.
'It does not mean you can't win the title if you can't compete financially.'

Upbeat: Wenger feels Arsenal can challenge for title

The Frenchman, speaking before Robin van Persie announced his intention to leave the Gunners, added: "I have been in football for a long, long time and I don't think just spending money is a target that is defendable.
'To spend the money on a top player is defendable. But just to spend the money is like you are worried.
'Our fans can be proud of the way we run this club, of the quality of the players we have and of the financial situation that is existing at the club.
'Rather than convicting this club, they have more reason to be proud of the whole situation here.
'We have built a team and a stadium in such a short space of time, and have a strong financial situation - and we have always survived at the top level.'
Wenger also believes the eventual implementation of Financial Fair Play can have a positive impact on both Arsenal and the league as a whole.

Difference: Chelsea splashed the cash on Eden Hazard

'We need first to see how effectively financial fair play can be enforced before we can fully understand the impact but I believe it will make for a more exciting Premier League,' Wenger said.
'When you look at the history of England, there are Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Derby County who have all won championships.
'If that is possible again it will be even more interesting.
'If the rules are well introduced, it will be a massive advantage to Arsenal Football Club, of course, and we will be well positioned for that.
'I don't want to go into excuses but you want a business to be run properly and I believe that to lose £150million a year, you don't deserve a lot of credit to win a competition.
'I think that it is right that you balance your books - to accept the one basic principle for every company - and that's that you can spend the money which you make.
'That principle just seems to be a common sense and logical one.'