Boss Ferguson wants Nemanja Vidic to stay at Man Utd

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted he wants defender Nemanja Vidic to stay at the club.

Vidic, 28, has been the subject of persistent rumours that he is keen for a move away from Old Trafford, possibly to Tuesday's opponents AC Milan.

The United boss said: "Of course we want him to stay. He is a great player; one of the world's best centre-backs."

Vidic is training again after missing nine games with a leg nerve problem but has said he is not yet ready to play.

Ferguson had hinted he would feature on 6 February when United won 5-0 against Portsmouth but the Serbia defender missed that game and the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa last week.

Vidic has not travelled to Italy for the Champions League match with Milan.

Ferguson added: "It's a difficult one. He feels he needs to do a lot of training and has been training for the past 10 days but he doesn't feel ready to take part in games.

"It is something we have to be patient with and that is what we are doing at the moment."

Vidic moved to Old Trafford from Spartak Moscow for a fee in the region of £7m in January 2006

He has been a big success at Old Trafford, becoming a key player in the side that won three successive Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2008, but speculation that his wife Ana is unhappy in the north west has persisted.

Others have suggested that advisors to Vidic, whose contract runs out in 2012, have been happy to let rumours rumble on because they would bring forward talks on a new contract.

In his public statements, Vidic himself has always stated that he wants to stay at Manchester United.

From BBC