Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are close friends, and even the extent Rooney was willing to go to to help get the Press off Cristiano's back!

"Wayne phoned me on the day of the World Cup final and said he had a great idea. He suggested he could do a TV interview with Ronaldo and they could show everything was fine.

Brazilian legend Rivaldo has backed compatriot Anderson to be a success at Manchester United, if he is given time.

"He's very good, a huge talent, but you need to be patient with him," Rivaldo told the Daily Star.

"His development should be controlled, giving him encouragement but everything done calmly.

"We're talking about a youngster who has the qualities to be a great player."

Reds' defender Danny Simpson has signed a new contract which will keep him at the club until 2010.

The 20-year-old, who joined in July 2003, spent last season out on loan, gaining significent first team experience along the way.

Owen Hargreaves has been "perfect" on and off the field since arriving at Old Trafford from Bayern Munich, according to Sir Alex Ferguson.

And the United boss expects plenty more to come from his tireless new signing as soon as he completely shakes off the tendonitis problem that hindered the start to his Reds career.

Real Madrid believe they may have errored when they chose not to offer professional contracts to some of todays biggest and best young stars.

The club's technical secretary, Miguel Angel Portugal, has revealed that he was given the chance to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, amongst other stars, but had no money available.

Brazilian international Anderson will get a run-out for United's Reserves against Manchester City on Tuesday evening.

The 19-year-old summer signing from Porto made his senior debut against Sunderland on Saturday, and Sir Alex Ferguson has taken the decision to give him more playing time at Sports City.

Michael Carrick says having next summer off instead of playing at Euro 2008 would be unthinkable!

“As footballers, we sometimes complain about not getting enough time off. But it’s unthinakble to miss a major tournament.

"The big championships are the things you remember. You need to be there.

Ryan Giggs is set to stick with Manchester United for another two years.

United officials will sit down with the Welsh winger within the month to renegotiate his £75,000-a-week contract.

Giggs, 33, has made 721 appearances and is just 38 away from Bobby Charlton's record.

Owen Hargreaves has assessed the season so far, and is looking forward to getting on the pitch with Ronaldo and Rooney - something he hasn't been able to do yet because of injury and suspensions.

"Any time you don't have players like Louis, Wayne and Cristiano it is difficult. They are three of the best players in England," said Owen.

Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed Louis Saha for changing the game in United's favour on Saturday. Louis came on at half time and grabbed the only goal of the match.

"Louis Saha made the obvious difference when he came on," Ferguson said.

"He gives us strength and penetration and he got us the goal. I didn't want to start with him but at half-time I thought he was needed.