Both Real Madrid and cross-town rivals Manchester City are in pursuit of Manchester United’s Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic. Jose Mourinho has identified the centre-back as his prime defensive target. After two years of expressing interest in the tall defender, Real hope to secure the deal before the World Cup gets over.
The centre-half has been unsettled at United for quite some time. And his relationship with Sir Alex has soured over the past few months. It reached its nadir when the defender pulled out of United’s third round loss to Leeds in the FA Cup. His wife is reportedly unsettled in Manchester and a move to Bernabeu looks on the cards.
But, however, there seems to be a twist in the tail. Manchester City are poised to break the bank in order to sign Vidic. They will table a £20m bid for the player and offer him in the excess of £115,000 a week to lure him to Eastlands.
Manchester United have already begun to cope up with life without the centre-half. They have signed Fulham defender Chris Smalling for £10m and have singled out Danish defender Simon Kjaer as Vidic’s replacement.
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