Source: Manchester_EveningNews
Vidic keeps United flag flying
NEMANJA Vidic has declared his allegiance to United to end rabid speculation he was set to bow to 'er indoors and quit Old Trafford for sunnier climes.
When United's 2008 double Player of the Year, voted for by his fellow team-mates and Reds fans, was forced out of the Far East tour rumours ran wild that the 27-year-old's ankle injury was a smokescreen and he was La Liga bound.
The Serb did finally connect with the Reds squad in Germany for the Audi Cup but then had calf problems in the warm up before the Bayern Munich game and missed pre-season completely.
With the campaign underway without him and while he was recuperating, Vidic's adviser Paolo Fabbri was reported to have told a radio station in Catalonia that it was a "dream for Vidic to play for Barcelona" and that he "would be delighted to join them, as he wants to play in La Liga".
Fabbri later denied the quotes and Sir Alex Ferguson at his media conference last Friday insisted that the popular defender was staying at Old Trafford.
Now Vidic, who returned to action for his first start of the season at Wigan last Saturday, has underlined his loyalty to the Premier League champions.
"I showed at Wigan on the pitch how I played how happy I am at this club," said Nemanja.
"Anyone who is a fan of United or the players would only have to see how I played to know how committed I am to United."
His adviser's alleged comments fuelled a long-running story that European Cup winners Barca are keen to have him at the Nou Camp.
Other clubs around Europe have also been linked with the defender, who cost United £7m from Spartak Moscow on Christmas Day in 2005.
Vidic says he has never entered the talk about potential future employers.
Barcelona, AC Milan, Real Madrid
"The first thing to say is that I have personally never said anything about Barcelona, or Real Madrid or AC Milan or any club.
"It's other people speaking about it. I never speak about my future so I don't really know why someone else does.
"I spoke with my agent about it. I know about all the rumours about me but I don't want it to have an impact on the club.
"It's not a good time for my club to be hearing those rumours. I'm here and I'm committed. I'll show that with how I play in matches.
"I will never speak about my future and I will never talk about moving to other clubs."
Vidic hasn't helped in the past to douse the stories that the Yugoslavia-born player wasn't enamoured with the English climate.
Quotes attributed to him said: "I will never stay to live in England, that's for sure.
"The climate here is something special. You get only a brief glimpse of sunlight before it's all cloudy again. The winters are mild but in summer the temperatures seldom go higher than 20 degrees, and it rains, rains, rains.
"In England they say that Manchester is the city of rain. Its main attraction is considered to be the timetable at the railway station where trains leave for other, less rainy cities!"
While Nemanja may have had his tongue firmly in his cheek then there have been constant rumours that his wife Ana certainly isn't content with the Manchester weather.
But Vidic says: "It's not my true that my wife is not happy.
"I don't know how that rumour came out because she's never spoken to any newspaper. She's not what you'd call a famous wife. She is not always doing interviews or getting in the papers or anything like that."
Whatever Mrs V truly thinks about life in Manchester United fans will be happy to read that their cult hero is "committed" to the Reds. His return at Wigan was typically commanding and he even got himself mixed up in the fracas with striker Hugo Rodallega.
"I was happy to be back playing and I was happy because of the result, we got three points from a hard away game. And, most importantly, we scored five goals.
"It was what we needed after Burnley. We did well after such a bad game. We realised how badly we had played at Burnley. I'm very proud of how we did at Wigan."
