Manchester United vs Derby

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AIG are 18 months from the end of a £14 million-a-year contract with the Premier League champions, and their exit comes as little surprise.

The company has encountered financial trouble and last year received a $150bn (£109m) bail-out from the US government.

United executives have known for some time they would require an alternative sponsor and are confident they can increase the value of their shirt sponsorship.

Giant Indian corporation Sahara have already confirmed they are investigating United's proposals, while Saudi Telecom would also be among the companies who could be involved.
In addition, the Old Trafford outfit have strong links in both Malaysia and South Korea, so even at a time of financial prudence around the world, United are still optimistic of bettering a contract worth £19m including various financial packages.

"In line with industry practice, Manchester United is exploring the possibility of a shirt sponsor for the new 2010-11 season," said a United spokesman.

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Manchester Uniteed: Tranfer Gossip

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Despite his side marching back towards the top of the Premier League, he is still looking to strengthen his squad and, according to The Sun, he has turned his attentions towards Wigan Athletic midfielder Wilson Palacios.

Not satisfied with a pool of midfield talent that features Michael Carrick, Anderson, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher, recent signing Zoran Tosic and - lest we forget - Owen Hargreaves, Fergie is ready to splash out £14 million on the 22-year-old Honduran.

That could set up yet another transfer tussle with Tottenham Hotspur, who had a £10m bid for Palacios turned down on Wednesday.

Wigan owner Dave Whelan turned that bid down, but The Mirror claims that Spurs will return with a £14m bid of their own.

Wigan boss Steve Bruce reacted with a sigh of resignation to Tottenham's original offer, saying: "How do you deny the player a move? It is a life-changing deal. It's going to be tough to keep him.

"I know we are already talking telephone numbers. When you go for that sort of fee, the contract will be big too."

Instead of referencing late-Nineties quiz shows fronted by Phillip Schofield and Emma Forbes, Bruce should be thinking about how he would spend that cash.

There is no doubting the Honduran's quality, but for the money being discussed Bruce could fund the permanent capture of Amr Zaki and offer the Egyptian's strike partner Emile Heskey a new deal that could keep him at the club - that is if Whelan doesn't gobble it up to compensate for the losses that JJB Sports are predicted to make this year.

Alternatively, he could make a bid for Fulham's Jimmy Bullard now that Lancashire neighbours Bolton have withdrawn their interest, following the rejection of their £5m bid. Even if Palacios leaves, the Latics will still have Lee Cattermole and Michael Brown at their disposal to do all the rough stuff in the centre of the park while Bullard pulls the strings.

Liverpool's own hardman, Daniel Agger - a defender so solid he played on after knocking out one of his own teeth by kneeing himself in the face against Bolton in November - could be on his way to Milan, according to The Guardian.

The Dane's agent has been in talks with the Rossoneri's sporting director to discuss an £8.5m move this month, though a move in the summer appears more likely - either through a £7m release clause that kicks in at the end of the season or by the 24-year-old using the Webster Ruling to buy out the last year of his Anfield deal.

It seems that Paul Ince was turfed out of Blackburn in such a hurry that he only had time to stuff a potted plant and a framed photo of the wife and kids into a cardboard box before being shown the door; because new Rovers boss Sam Allardyce has waltzed in, seen a Post-it note with 'Buy Red Bull Salzburg's 6' 5" striker Marc Janko ' scribbled on it, and has decided to do just that.

Janko has scored a frankly obscene 30 goals in 17 Austrian Bundesliga appearances this season, and fits the bill to replace Roque Santa Cruz, should the striker make the move to Manchester City.

The Times reckon that Rovers are holding out for a monster £25m before they are ready to lose the Paraguayan's aerial prowess and enviable cheekbones.
Portsmouth boss Tony Adams is looking to take Real Madrid striker Javier Saviola on loan for the rest of the season, as long as the Argentinian isn't used as a makeweight in a deal to bring Wigan's Antonio Valencia to the Bernabeu.

Djibril Cisse has told Marseille he wants to make his loan move at Sunderland a permanent one, even though l'OM want to take him back in the summer.

The French striker, who is single-handedly putting his hair stylist's kids through college, told the Daily Star: "I can understand why they would try to take me back, but no, to be honest, I want to stay here. For the moment, I'm good here.

"I have scored nine goals and my target was 15, which is still possible. If I'm offered a contract at the end of the season, why change?"

Elsewhere, Ivory Coast international Arthur Boka has rejected interest from Spurs in favour of a new deal at Stuttgart, Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia insists that Dean Whitehead won't be joining Hull City and Lauren is set to snub interest from Bolton and Blackburn to stay at

Portsmouth.Tony Mabert / Eurosport

Manchester United vs Chelsea

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Rooney pounced from close range after a run from Cristiano Ronaldo down the right, but he came off six minutes later and is expected to miss the next three weeks with a hamstring injury.
United were holding on at the end but steady defending saw them go two points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand.

They will go top if they beat Bolton at the weekend, with Liverpool not playing Everton until Monday night.

It was Rooney's fifth Premier League goal and 14th in all competitions this season.

The England striker's replacement, Carlos Tevez, missed a straightforward chance when a poor first touch sent him too far wide after he was played clean through.

The Argentine's miss came in the 25th minute and appeared to dent his confidence as, despite working hard, he barely got a sniff on goal and was outshone by Wigan's rugged defence.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson later said that Tevez played with a knock for the second half, while defender Jonny Evans also struggled with an injury.

The goal-scoring start stunned Wigan, but despite dominating first-half possession the hosts had little else to show other than a shot from Nani that went well over Chris Kirkland's crossbar and a long-range drive from Paul Scholes that was blocked by Mario Melchiot.

Wigan were on the back foot for much of the first half but created speculative efforts from distance by Luis Antonio Valencia, Emile Heskey and Wilson Palacios, with the latter subject of a £10 million bid from Tottenham that was rejected minutes before kick off.

They also had the second-best chance of the half when Paul Scharner rose to head a Ryan Taylor cross into the side netting on 38 minutes.

Steve Bruce's men grew into the match and, three minutes later, Taylor should have made Edwin van der Sar work but curled a shot wide when he was found unmarked in the box.
In the second half, Wigan were the better side.

Aside from some clever build-up play by Dimitar Berbatov - who had one cheeky effort with the outside of his foot go wide with six minutes left - United barely got a look-in.

Wigan almost grabbed a leveller just after the hour mark but Amr Zaki's volley was blocked and Taylor's follow-up was saved by Van der Sar, who was by far the busier keeper.

The Dutch veteran was forced to act bravely under pressure on two occasions while he saved well from Palacios's spectacular long-range shot.

Serbia centre-half Nemanja Vidic was becoming United's key man, with key challenges on Heskey and Maynor Figueroa and a generally strong aerial performance that helped keep them ahead.

The Latics piled on the pressure in the closing minutes but United clung on to the win while Wigan lost only their second Premier League match in eight

Reda Maher / Eurosport

Manchester United vs Chelsea

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Goals from Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov moved United up to third - above Aston Villa on goal difference - and five points behind leaders Liverpool with two games in hand. They will move above second-placed Chelsea with a win over Wigan Athletic on Wednesday.

Vidic lost his marker at the far post to head home his fourth of the season from a corner in first-half stoppage time and give United a lead they just about deserved on the balance of play.
That goal was registered at the second attempt after Cristiano Ronaldo had a header of his own disallowed just moments earlier. Rooney had casually knocked the inital corner into play while nobody except Ryan Giggs was looking, and the Welsh veteran jogged over to the ball before quickly crossing in to the far post for Ronaldo to glance a header past goalkeeper Petr Cech. However, the linesman's flag was immediately raised and referee Howard Webb ruled that, as none of the officials were made aware that the ball was in play, the corner must be retaken.

Midway through the second-half, United doubled their lead when Patrice Evra - returning from a four-match ban for his row with a Chelsea groundsman at Stamford Bridge last April - curled in a cross that was too high for Berbatov to head but Rooney was able to prod home from close range.
Berbatov put the gloss on the victory with three minutes of normal time remaining when he steered in Ronaldo's free-kick delivery at the near post.

Considering the inevitably fevered build-up to the match, the first-half was a largely uneventful one.

The referee handed out four yellow cards, the first to Frank Lampard after just four minutes for a cynical trip on Ronaldo.

Ronaldo found himself in the book midway through the half along with fellow Portuguese Ricardo Carvalho after the two tangled with each other while battling at a corner.

The only shot on target preceding the opener came from Berbatov after Rooney had found him in the Chelsea area with a delicate flick. The Bulgarian striker was in front of goal but his left-footed shot under pressure was tame and an easy stop for Cech.

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari brought on Nicolas Anelka at half-time to partner Didier Drogba, but the league's top scorer did little to aid his coahces cause.

The Frenchman could not muster any efforts on goal himself, while Drogba blazed one strike over the bar and air-kicked another attempted volley as the Blues chased the game.
Four more booking were handed out before the final whistle, including one for Rooney, whose performance deserved both the goal he scored and the yellow card he received.

Ronaldo fired a shot inches wide from distance and had a free-kick loop up off the wall and tipped over the bar by Cech before he set up the third goal that ended Chelsea's unbeaten run of 20 away matches in the league.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

Manchester United new signings

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Manchester United have completed the signings of Serbian duo Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajic from Partizan Belgrade.

United announced a couple of months ago they had reached agreement with Partizan for the duo, since when the Red Devils have been attempting to agree personal terms.
At one point it was suggested talks had collapsed as the various parties could not reach a satisfactory conclusion.

However, any outstanding issues have now been resolved, leaving Tosic free to join the Old Trafford outfit next week, with Ljajic staying in Belgrade for the remainder of the season.
Despite being just 21, Tosic has already made 12 appearances for Serbia and is regarded as one of the best young wide players in Europe.

In theory, his arrival could be bad news for Nani, who has struggled to make anything like the same impact as countryman Cristiano Ronaldo, having left Sporting Lisbon for United 18 months ago.

However, with Ryan Giggs now 35 and set to figure even less over the next 18 months, Sir Alex Ferguson may decide to persevere with Nani, giving Tosic time to get used to his new surroundings.

At just 17, Ferguson feels Ljajic will benefit from the stability of remaining with Partizan, knowing his first-team opportunities at United would be almost non-existent this season.
Ljajic has already made his presence felt at under-21 level for Serbia and most observers believe it is only a matter of time before he gains full international honours.

It has been suggested United could end up paying around £17million for the duo, who will link up with Nemanja Vidic at Old Trafford, although that figure is likely to be based heavily on future success and the club have refused to comment on the size of an initial payment.