Why Barcelona will help Man United win back title

Barcelona and Real Madrid may be doing Manchester United a favour by triggering an exodus from Manchester City.

Barca are set to make a £10 million bid for the Argentine ace Zabaletta, according to the Mirror.

The Spanish giants are expecting Paris St Germain to make an offer they cannot refuse for Dani Alves and want right-back Zabaleta, 27, as a replacement.

Real Madrid want Manchester City's star midfielder David Silva, according to reports in Spain.

Sports paper AS reckons the the former Valencia star is now Jose Mourinho's top transfer target for summer.

Real are also lining up a bid for £50 million bid for Silva's team-mate Sergio Aguero this summer.

But Silva is Mourinho's top priority to push Mesut Ozil in midfield.

City could be further weakened if Juventus settled for Edin Dzeko. 
 

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Rooney to leave Man Utd, or stay and fight?

Manchester United talisman Wayne Rooney is a broken man after losing the Premier League title to Manchester City on goal difference on Super Sunday.

The star netted the winner against Sunderland but it was not enough to prevent City from snatching the title after Sergio Aguero's last-gasp strike at the Etihad.

Rooney said: “Sunday was a difficult day for everyone.

“One minute you think we have won the title, then we haven’t, which was heartbreaking."

Rooney at one stage in the campaign was disciplined by Sir Alex Ferguson after breaking the curfew ahead of their Boxing Day tie, was also out of sorts in the final stages of the season.

However, the pugnacious England striker is determined to fightback despite being humbled by failing to win a trophy this season.

“That is how it goes sometimes. We have to believe in ourselves," Rooney was quoted in The Sun.

He said: “We have to look forward to next season and hopefully we can win some trophies.

“I am sure we will be back. We all believe in ourselves.”

Rooney believes United only have themselves to blame after they blew 3-1 and 4-2 leads against his old club Everton last month.

He said: “The biggest disappointment was the Everton game. To be 4-2 up - with 10 minutes to go - and to lose that lead is hugely disappointing.

“But there are a lot of young players in the team. That is only going to benefit them. They will learn from that.”

And stand-in United skipper Patrice Evra reckons Alex Ferguson’s side will win back their crown ‘easily’ next term.

Evra feels United were nowhere near their best during the campaign - and yet they still matched City’s 89-point final tally.

The defender said: “We have given the title to City - but if we play well from the beginning to end, we will win the title back easily.

“We received a lot of criticism this season but we have got nine points better than last season.

“City played their best football and we didn’t always play our best football - but we still finished on the same points.

“So it makes you think that if we play our best football consistently throughout the season, then we are going to win the league by many points.”

The French skipper also felt a string of injuries hampered their campaign.

He said: “I don’t like to make excuses - but we suffered so many injuries, it was one of the most difficult seasons we have had at Manchester United.

“We made a Champions League exit very early, we lost players like Nemanja Vidic.

“Imagine if Vincent Kompany was missing all the season for City.

“I played centre-back with Michael Carrick in some of the games.

“It is not easy to finish the season without a trophy. That is fact.

“But we gave everything and to be fair we were winning the league until 30 seconds from the end of the season.

“To finish without a trophy is not usual. We are hungry to win something next year.

“After the game I was really down, but I just want to get back training and get the title back.”