Rio Ferdinand complete 45 minutes for the Reserves this evening when they took on Oldham in the Manchester Senior Cup and has surely put himself back into contention for a start against Everton in ten days’ time.

It has come as a bit of a surprise this one as the news was that he was still a couple of weeks away from fitness but with Anderson suddenly appearing in a reserve fixture last week it seems to be the way at United at the moment – give absolutely nothing away!

On a related note, Owen Hargreaves fans will be interested to see that he has been included in United’s 25 man Premier League squad for the current season. With the transfer window closing yesterday, Premier League clubs had to send in their final squads for the current campaign and Hargo’s inclusion had been subject of some debate but he is there and that may mean that Fergie sees him playing some kind of role over the next few months.

It isn’t a guarantee though – it does appear that we were easily able to accomodate our players into the restrictions of the new ruling and many clubs appear to have actually put forward a squad list of less than 25 players – even with Hargo, we have only submitted 24.

In other news of the last few days, Tom Cleverley went out on loan to Wigan which, I must admit, I found strange. I really thought he would be brought through into the first team this season but Fergie has clearly decided that he has enough options in midfield at the moment and a loan to a Premier League side will be a good experience for Cleverley.

Let’s hope he does for Wigan what Mame Biram Diouf has done for Blackburn so far!

West Ham come to Old Trafford this evening having had a start to the season which would suggest that Hammers fans could be in for as rocky a season as they had to endure last season.

They have lost both of their opening games, shipping six goals and scoring only one in return and it is extremely difficult to put together a case to suggest that their fortunes are going to improve much today. Their away record has been extremely poor for quite some time now (the last time they won away in the League was on the opening day of last season when they beat Wolves 2-0.

The really good news for United is that the injured players are now starting to come back and with Anderson playing an hour earlier in the week for the reserves, there might even be the possibility of a cameo appearance for him in this game.

Wayne Rooney should be back for this one and will no doubt play alongside Berbatov – after a pretty barren few months for Rooney, I have a feeling he is going to burst back into life soon and today could well be the day.

I’m not going to over-analyse this one. I can only see a United win – the question is: by how many? Unfortunately, the bookies see it exactly the same way and are offering very skinny odds even on the -1.5 AH (1.45!).

I think I am going to go for it with this one though as I do think United could win this one very comfortably today and a three goal winning margin would not be a massive surprise but a two goal winning margin will refund stakes.

The bet is going to be 3 points United -2 AH @ 1.74 with Canbet.

The draw for this season’s Champions league has just been made and this is how it looks for Manchester United.

We have been drawn in Group C alongside Valencia, Rangers and Bursaspor.

There are obviously going to be a couple of tasty encounters with Rangers and Valencia have good pedigree in the tournament. I must admit to knowing very little about Bursaspor other than the fact that they qualified for this tournament by winning the Turkish Super Lig last season but that title win was the first time they had ever finished in the top three of their domestic league.

I think the other English sides fared slightly better with their groups (with the exception of Spurs who always looked like ending in a tough group as they came from Pot 3).

Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, MSK Zilina.

Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga, FK Partizan.

Tottenham, Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, FC Twente.

Craven Cottage has always been a happy hunting ground for United until recently. Our last two visits have seen us lose 2-0 in 2008/09 and then 3-0 last season although it has to be said that that 3-0 defeat was in December during the horrendous spell when we barely had a defender to field.

Still, Fulham have been a very decent outfit under Roy Hodgson in recent years but Hodgson has, of course, now left for Liverpool and has been replaced by Mark Hughes who is no doubt still finding his feet in his new job.

It’s going to be interesting to see who Fergie plays for this one. Rooney apparently has a stomach bug and hasn’t travelled and so will we see Fergie revert to some kind of 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2 with Berby and Chicharito/Owen upfront?

Fulham’s biggest miss is likely to be keeper Schwarzer.

It’s still a bit too early in the season to know exactly what to make of this one but I do think our recent Craven Cottage jinx will come to an end today and we’ll be leaving with the three points this time.

The bookies think it will be a low-scoring game and it is difficult to argue with that although a 2-1 win for United would not appear to be an unthinkable scoreline. Personally, I think we have a 2-0 in us here but I think a safish bet might be the -1 Asian Handicap.

The bet is 4 points Manchester United -1 AH @ 2.05 with Bet365.

Reports are leaking out that we have signed a 16 year old Dutch wonderkid called Gyliano van Velzen from Ajax who will join up with our Academy imminently.

I can’t confirm that the rumours are true at this stage and I don’t know very much about him at all but he is being described already as a left-footed Ronaldo.

The video below gives a glimpse of him and as you will see, he’s a tall lad and thoroughly left-footed but quick, strong and tricky.

It must also be added that this video is two years old and so he’ll be playing against 14 year olds there! Hopefully there’s some truth to the rumour and we’ll be able to see him playing for the Academy very soon though.

I know the reports of Vidic agreeing a new deal are fairly old news now but I felt at the time that I would only be fully satisfied when I saw Vidic actually sign the contract!

Vidic Signs New Contract

Well, the Official Manchester United website is now reporting that he has indeed put pen to paper and it is now official.

It is a new four year deal intended to keep Vidic at Manchester United until 2014.

Sir Alex had this to say, “This kills all the silly speculation over the past few months. Nemanja has developed into one of the best centre-halves in Europe and we are pleased he will be here for many years to come.”

This is obviously great news and shows that investment in the squad and the commitment to hold on to the better players is as strong as ever.

Madrid Bound Mesut Ozil

One of the longest drawn-out transfer sagas of the Summer finally reached its conclusion today as Mesut Ozil signed for Real Madrid and will undoubtedly join a cluster of stars sitting on the bench for some of the biggest games in La Liga this season.

Personally, I never felt that we would sign Ozil after Fergie decided to keep Tom Cleverley at United rather than send him on loan but that won’t stop legions of Manchester United fans from being disappointed at this development, especially as the fee is believed to be around £12million (a far cry from the £25-30million quoted during the Summer when the World Cup was on).

What would be nice to see now is for young Cleverley to be actually brought through into the first team. The game against Newcastle seemed to be the perfect game to give him a chance but he wasn’t even listed amongst the subs which was a strange one.

It’s a beautiful day here in Manchester and made all the better because the wait is finally over – Manchester United set out on their campaign to win back the Premier League title right here this evening.

Newcastle, of course, returned to the Premier League after a one season stint in the Championship during which they won by a considerable margin. Whether he can maintain the momentum in the Premier League remains to be seen but I’m sure they’ll come to Old Trafford tonight feeling that they need to show their fans that the horror show of a couple of seasons ago won’t be repeated.

Picking the Manchester United team this season is going to be even more fun than usual as it looks very much like there are pretty much two different teams with completely different formations that Fergie can choose from.

Hernandez has set the place on fire with his goalscoring for every team he has lined up with this summ (three, in total) whilst Rooney is on a “four month goal drought” (a lttle harsh to put it that way, I know, but that is how long it has been since he last found the back of the net) and it is going to be interesting to see what Fergie does about those two here tonight. The Rooney/Hernandez partnership hasn’t been tried yet and that is either because Fergie just hasn’t got around to it yet or he just doesn’t think those two can play together. I suspect there’s something to the latter but that won’t stop United fans from wanting to see it!

Given that Chelsea got their own League campaign off to an absolute flyer with a 6-0 thrashing of West Brom on Saturday (showing that, for all their pre-season woes, it is looking very much like business as usual for the Blues) then it is imperative that we get the three points here tonight.

I don’t expect to see anything like 6-0, of course, but I don’t think two or three goals are beyond us.

The bookies appear to think that this will be a convincing win for Manchester United with 2-0 being the most likely score. I am inclined to go with that which does mean that there’s a bit of value to be had in the over/under market because the bookies also seem pretty certain that it will be a fairly high-scoring affair.

I suspect that a goal from Newcastle will scupper this bet but I am still going to go for the Under here albeit with smallish stakes.

The bet is going to be 2 points UNDER 2.5 goals @ 2.29 with Canbet.

Review to follow…

With the Premier League kicking off tomorrow, I thought I’d do my usual preview of the season and how I rate the various teams’ chances as we go into it.

I will start with Champions Chelsea.

It has been an unusual Summer for Chelsea as there has arguably been a weakening of the squad with Joe Cole, Carvalho and Deco all leaving although midfielder Ramires looks certain to be joining and Benayoun has also been brought in. I certainly see nothing about this to suggest that they are going to come on leaps and bounds from last season although they will clearly be right up there next May again.

Pre-season has also been pretty disappointing for Chelsea having lost several of their games including a pretty convincing 3-1 defeat to United last weekend in the Community Shield. Ashley Cole doesn’t look a happy man to me and was probably at fault for at least two of the United goals and given how big a player he is for Chelsea, I would suggest that if he doesn’t sort himself out, they will struggle a bit at the back, especially with Carvalho (who I consider their best defender over recent years) leaving.

Still, they have been there or thereabouts for the last six years and certainly know what it takes to win the League and cannot be discounted lightly but I don’t think they will retain their title this season and could even finish third.

Then we come to Manchester United. I’m obviously biased but I think we were unlucky last season with injuries that ultimately cost us dearly. To be fair, the best team probably did win the League in the end but despite our horrendous injury problems, we still kept the title race alive until the very last day and I see no reason why we can’t do something similar this season.

A massive weight was placed on Rooney’s shoulders last season but I don’t think he will have to match his goal-scoring feats of last season again and something around 25 goals in all competitions looks more likely this season because I just can’t see him having the same amount of game time this season.

The signing of Hernandez took a lot of people by surprise but it looks like a typical masterstroke from Fergie already. We still have to see how he does in the rough and tumble of the Premier League but, despite appearances, this is a strong lad who is not afraid to mix it himself and I think he will do fine. Depending on the number of games he gets, I can certainly see 15-20 goals from him this season.

And then we have Berbatov who has been mostly disappointing in his two seasons at United but I sense a change in him this summer. He has looked much more at ease with himself and the old Berbatov confidence looks to be back. What this will mean in terms of game time remains to be seen but Fergie clearly likes the Berby/Hernandez partnership and so I am sure it will be used when the situation demands it. I would expect Berbatov to enjoy a better goal return than usual this season but I still think 10-15 goals is about the most we can expect.

The area that we haven’t strengthened is the one area that most fans believe we need to strengthen the most – the midfield. Rumours about Ozil won’t go away but I still can’t see that happening and I believe Fergie is going to be giving Cleverley and Obertan a decent number of games this season. With backup from the oldies Giggs and Scholes, it will also be hoped that Carrick can rediscover his form and that Fletcher can continue to be the man for the big occasion. Anderson is unlikely to feature until October, I would suspect but if he can come back determined to make up for lost time then we will have a player on our hands again.

Valencia and Nani will also be expected to kick on from where they left off last season and Valencia in particular just seems to be getting better and better now that he is fully integrated into the team.

At the back, the re-signing of Vidic was obviously a major boost for us and the signing of Smalling has provided added cover for Rio who is clearly becoming a big injury concern for Fergie so I expect the Vidic/Evans partnership to be used far more often this season with Smalling getting a fair few chances and Rio playing his usual 1 in 3!

What all this means is that I can only see that we have got stronger this season. I do believe that the improvements to some of the younger players more than makes up for any decline we might see from the likes of Giggs and Scholes.

Given the disappointment of last season, the players will be as hungry as ever and I see no reason why we won’t be up there come next May. I believe we’ll win the League this season.

Behind these two, we have a real tussle involving more teams than ever. The days of the so-called “Big Four” are well and truly over. Arsenal, Man City, Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton and Aston Villa will all be contesting the next six places although I am inclined to believe that the order I have just given is the order in which they will finish.

Arsenal just wouldn’t go away last season despite the fact that I must have written them off at least three times and I expect them to be stronger this season due to some of their players maturing and learning from the experience of last season. Whether this will be enough to take them to the title remains to be seen and I see them in a tussle with Manchester City.

Manchester City are, as always these days, something of an unknown quantity coming into this season. With the signings of Jerome Boateng, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Aleksandar Kolarov, Mario Ballotelli and likely signing of James Milner, they will have taken their spending to well over £100million this summer alone. Given that that is basically half a team, it is going to be interesting to see how well and how quickly Mancini can get them functioning together. Keeping them all happy is also going to present a challenge for Mancini as he will undoubtedly have to rotate the personnel regularly.

If he can pull it off then clearly Manchester City are going to be a big danger but I just can’t see them winning the title. A Champions League spot looks likely though and I suspect it will be considered a failure if they don’t achieve that status at the very least.

Next up is Spurs who had a terrific season under Harry Redknap last year and clinched that Champions League spot. The challenge for them now is to maintain or improve on that position whilst actually competing in the Champions League itself (assuming they overcome Young Boys) – something a few teams have found difficult in the past. Personally, I think they will find it difficult to emulate what they achieved last season and a fifth placed finish looks likely.

Next up are Liverpool who, of course, had the season from hell last year and there has been all kinds of upheaval there over the summer with Benitez leaving for Inter and the ownership situation in something of a mess. I really did think at the end of last season that there could be something of an exodus from Anfield this summer but Roy Hodgson appears to have done a great job of convincing the high profile players that Liverpool remains a place to be to achieve their ambitions. The arrival of Joe Cole on a free from Chelsea was a good bit of business (especially when it was effectively a swap with Benayoun and a few million quid on top) but I just can’t see it being enough. They will be hoping Torres can stay clear of injury this season and if that is possible then they have a much better chance because he is possibly the best striker in the League when fit and on form but it’s not be the kind of thing I would like to rely on. I just don’t think they have what it takes to get back into the Top Four this season. They could push Spurs down into sixth but I can’t see any better than that to be honest. I think they’ll finish sixth.

Next up is Everton who also had a season from hell last season due to the most awful injury situation at the beginning of the season. Once they got their players back, they started to look like a very, very good side again and I can only believe that they will have a bit more luck with them in terms of injuries this season and that we’ll see the real Everton from start to finish. This could actually be good enough to finish above Liverpool and Spurs although I just feel that seventh is their limit.

Next up is Aston Villa who have shown that they can mix it with the big boys up to a point but always seem to collapse towards the end of the season. The fact that they have just lost their Manager, Martin O’Neill, is not good – especially so close to the start of the season. I still believe they’re a cut above most of the teams who finished below them last season but I cannot possibly see them improving on last season’s sixth place and I feel they’ll drop down to eighth this season.

Beyond this, the other teams are much of a muchness. There could be one who breaks out and rides high for a while but in the end, it is likely to be the usual suspects in mid-division.

The relegation battle, as usual, is likely to be interesting but unfortunately (for the neutrals), I don’t think it will involve quite as many teams as it did last season because the teams coming up (Newcastle, Blackpool and West Brom) are not particularly strong.

I think Blackpool are going to find themselves completely out of their depth and will be the first team to be relegated. Newcastle were woeful when they were in the Premier League a couple of seasons ago but Hughton did a brilliant job with them last season and they took the Championship title by storm, winning it by eleven points. Whether this confidence can be carried into a new Premier League season remains to be seen. Personally, I think they will do enough to stay up.

West Brom could go either way but I just have a feeling that they’re going to be in and around the relegation zone for much of the season and could eventually and up straight back down.

If Newcastle do stay up then I think Wolves or Wigan could be vulnerable. I expect West Ham to have a much better season than they did last year and will finish nearer to mid-division.

I think I will go for Blackpool, West Brom and one from Wolves or Wigan.

I Got You Bebe...

United have agreed a deal for 20 year old Portuguese striker Tiago Manuel Dias Correia (thankfully known as “Bebe”).

Although the official United website does not mention a fee, the Guardian are quoting £7.4million.

I must admit, I really know nothing about this lad and this transfer has come as something of a shock to me. Of all the positions we perhaps need a bit of cover for, I would have thought we’re more than well stocked in the striker department now, especially with the arrival of Hernandez (who scored for Mexico tonight, by the way!).

I can only assume that he is one of those “hot properties” such as Anderson and Nani who are expected to become big and if we don’t sign him now, we could be looking at double or even treble the fee in the not-so-distant future.

The question is, of course, where will he play? Most of us United fans are already trying to suss out how Fergie will get the most of the five recognised strikers we already have at the club (Rooney, Berby, Owen, Kiko and Chicharito).

I’m sure more details will follow over the next few days and perhaps a loan back to selling club, Vitoria de Guimaraes, is not totally out of the question?