Young duo to stay at United
25 Jul 2007 - 09:13:06
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insists he wants to keep Giuseppe Rossi and Gerard Pique at Old Trafford this season.
Both youngsters impressed during loan spells last term, 20-year-old Rossi at Newcastle United and Parma, and Pique at Real Zaragoza, but Ferguson thinks they have a role to play in his side in the forthcoming campaign.
"The lads going away proved themselves," he told the club's official website.
"Giuseppe scored nine goals in 16 matches for Parma and the consensus is that he kept them up. Everyone says that.
"Gerard played 24 games for Zaragoza and did exceptionally well. We got all the videos of the players and watched what they did in training. They will certainly come back.
"Hopefully we now have a strong enough pool of players. That's one of the reasons I was keen to get the young lads who were away on loan last year back at the club.
"They will develop better with us. They may play more regularly away on loan, but training with us and being part of the squad brings them on immeasurably.
"The really big test last season was when we got the injuries in March.
"When we got to the AC Milan game, we didn't have enough freshness in the team to prepare for a semi final. That was a blow. We hope now that if we do get those injuries again, this time we have better back-up."