Daniel Taylor
Tuesday April 15, 2008
The
Guardian
Manchester United's season is becoming a story of one piece of
good news after another and there was more for their supporters to
celebrate last night when it emerged that Rio Ferdinand had
provisionally agreed a new contract. Ferdinand has been in
outstanding form and the negotiations have passed off remarkably
smoothly compared to the difficulties that were encountered before
he signed his current deal in 2005.
On that occasion Ferdinand was jeered by the club's supporters
and reprimanded by Sir Alex Ferguson during a year-long haggling
process that was notorious for him being photographed in London
having dinner with the Chelsea chief executive, Peter Kenyon. This
time, the discussions have taken only a few weeks before Ferdinand
declared himself satisfied with the offer. The England
international, who has captained his club and country recently,
currently earns a little over £100,000 a week, but his new contract
will be worth about £6m a year (roughly £115,000 a week),
consolidating his position as one of the world's best-paid
footballers.
The contract is currently in the hands of his representatives
and, until it has been signed off by lawyers, there will be no
official announcement from Old Trafford, but it has been confirmed
that it is close to being finalised. Ferdinand joined the club from
Leeds United for a British-record £29.1m in 2002 and will be 34 by
the time his new deal expires.
United, however, have been bewildered by reports that Cristiano
Ronaldo is to be rewarded for his exceptional form with another pay
rise. Their leading scorer is only one year into a contract that
lasts until 2012 and there are no plans to offer him a new deal.
The club's usual policy is to wait until the player is two years
from the end of his contract.
Whether Ronaldo is willing to wait that long remains to be seen
but, for now at least, United are largely unconcerned by the latest
wave of reports from Spain that Real Madrid are still hopeful of
signing him. Ronaldo has always made it clear he would like to play
in La Liga but Ferguson has legitimate reasons to believe he is
ushering United into a golden period, with the club on the verge of
the Premier League title and facing a Champions League semi-final
later this month against an out-of-sorts Barcelona side.
The 2-1 defeat of Arsenal on Sunday means United have taken four
points from Arsène Wenger's side, as well as doing a league double
over Liverpool and beating Chelsea in their only encounter this
season. "I said from the start that results between the top four
would be the key this season and that's been proved right," said
Ferguson. "We've managed to do that and if we can win our next two
games, then we'll be champions."
United have to face Blackburn Rovers on Saturday followed by a
trip to Stamford Bridge a week later when, if everything goes
according to plan for Ferguson, the title could be confirmed. He is
anxious, however, not to be seen as over-confident. "I am not
counting my chickens," he said. "I am not getting carried away as I
know what football can do to you. My team is keen to do well and
the players are showing great consistency. We never give up, which
is a priceless quality to have. That's the kind of spirit we will
need in our remaining games. Hopefully that will continue and we
will win the league."
Ferguson can certainly be encouraged by the form of his team,
who have already accumulated 80 points, nine behind their total
when they won the championship last season. "The Premier League has
become much tougher in recent seasons," he said. "Thank goodness
we've performed well and got results against our main rivals,
because we've dropped points elsewhere. For example, we lost six
points to Manchester City this season, which is something we didn't
expect. We also lost at West Ham and Bolton, but the key is keeping
those setbacks to a minimum and we've managed that."
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2273706,00.html
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