United Bits and Bobs – October 6, 2009

Manchester United have today confirmed that Ritche De Laet will be a United player until at least 2012. The Belgian defender was offered a new contract that will keep him at Old Trafford for the foreseeable future (not entirely sure in what capacity, but at least he’ll be here). De Laet, now 20, was a surprise signing from Stoke, as he had never played for their first team. Nevertheless, De Laet has impressed United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson to the extent that he was today offered a new deal.

According to an interview with The Sun, “Alex Ferguson told me I’m very close to the first team. There has been talk of me going out on loan but Sir Alex said I can’t leave as he may need me. The new contract is a surprise and fantastic news.”

In unrelated news, Edwin Van der Sar will begin his much anticipated comeback tour with an appearance in tonight’s Reserve Team match against Everton. VDS has been sidelined with finger-break since this summer, and most supporters will no doubt be thrilled to have him back in the squad. No one stands around for 85 minutes before making one all-important save better than VDS. Welcome back, Edwin!

In other injury news, Owen Hargreaves is progressing as expected and looks set to return sometime in the near future. Obviously, that’s been said since late August/early September, but Fergie has now weighed in with his own estimation. “”He is coming along fine. His physio has gone back to America, so he is completely in our control now and hopefully he will be back into football training quite soon. The signs are good. There has been absolutely no reaction to the operations. It has been a long road for the boy, but he made a sacrifice by staying in America for a year to make sure he was right.” Fergie seems keen to include Hargo in his 2009-2010 plans, stating, “Owen can play centre-midfield, he can play wide right or right-back and there are a lot of positions you can play him in.” More to the point, it seems that Hargo may even a viable candidate to take over freekick duties in the event that Ryan Giggs isn’t starting.

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Category: Manchester United