Manchester United have been rocked by the news that veteran midfielder Paul Scholes could be sidelined for up to two months with a knee injury...

After netting his first goals for Manchester United last night, Dimitar Berbatov has insisted he "wasn't worried" at all by his mini-drought...

 

Prior to the Champions League clash against Aalborg, Berbatov had yet to score for United since joining them from Tottenham Hotspur on September 1. The Bulgarian striker's early showings as a Red Devil were decidedly lackadaisical, causing the fans to grow uneasy and whisper whether he was worth the £30.75million transfer fee. But there have been signs that the 27-year-old is beginning to hit his stride in the North West. He may not have got on the score-sheet against Bolton Wanderers at the weekend, but he thrilled the Old Trafford crowd with some fantastic flicks and delightful dribbling. And fears that Berbatov would become an expensive flop have begun to fade after he bagged a brace in United's 3-0 win in Denmark last night. "I wasn’t worried, I knew the goals would come sooner rather than later," the former Bayer Leverkusen player said in The Sun. "I’m pleased they came here but it was more important for the team to win." Berbatov will be looking to notch up his first league strike for United when they face Blackburn Rovers this weekend.

Salomon Kalou's header preserved Chelsea's four-and-a-half year unbeaten run in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge, after Park Ji-sung's early opener seemed set to give Manchester United victory.

The South Korean winger put the visitors in front in the 18th minute after Patrice Evra robbed Jose Bosingwa in the Chelsea box and squared for Dimitar Berbatov. The £32 million striker's tepid shot was pushed away by Petr Cech and Park slid the ball home.

The lead lasted over an hour until a Frank Lampard free kick was allowed to reach the United six-yard box where Blues substitute Salomon Kalou headed home.

Berbatov should have been marking Kalou but fingers will be pointed at substitute goalkeeper Tomas Kuszczak who should have collected the ball before the Chelsea forward nodded into the net from close range.

Like last week at Anfield, United started superbly but worrying for Sir Alex Ferguson's side they were again outplayed after taking the lead, despite the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in the second half.

Chelsea were without the services of the star man of the season Deco and though his replacement Michael Ballack played very well, Chelsea missed the creativity of their player of the season so far and struggled to settle.

United created the first two chances, both involving Berbatov. First he, uncharacteristically chased back and won a ball which was fed wide to Owen Hargreaves and his low cross was met by Darren Fletcher who volleyed just wide of the target.

Then Cech came racing out of his box and only cleared as for as the United striker 40 yards out on the left wing and he tried to hook the ball with his wrong foot back over the Chelsea keeper but inadvertently he set up Rooney who couldn't steer his effort on target.

Moments later, Chelsea sprung into life and Joe Cole was through on goal but he flicked the ball wide of Edwin van der Sar with the outside of his right foot but just wide of the goal.

After the goal, Chelsea had the better of the play though they did not create a great deal of chances in the rest of the half.

From one of these half chances, Florent Malouda ran through on goal but after van der Sar came out to dive at his feet the Chelsea winger injured the United keeper and he was replaced by Kuszcak.

The Polish keeper was called upon to make one tough save, ten minutes before the interval, when he dived to his left to parry Alex's fierce long-range drive.

Joe Cole had a good chance just after the restart when Anelka squared to him in the box but he couldn't get any purchase on his sidefoot and United cleared.
 
Ten minutes after the break Ronaldo came onto the field and immediately showed the excitement he brings, prompting a flurry of United counter-attacks, and his frustrating side as he dived for a free kick under the close attention of Frank Lampard.

From then on he did little, but neither did any other attacking United player as the visitors were under siege.

Midway though the half Nicolas Anelka, whose place in the side is now under threat from the fit-again Didier Drogba who made his first appearance of the season as a half time substitute, had two chances to equalise, the first difficult, the second gilt-edged.

First, Bosingwa's cross came to Anelka on the volley at the front post but he did not connect with his effort.

Moments later, again from the right flank, Joe Cole put in a low cross that from no more than three yards out, went through the legs of the France international. The ball was admittedly travelling at some pace, but it was a chance any striker would be distraught to miss.

He was fortunate that Chelsea did not come to rue this, as Kalou's timely intervention brought the scores level.

Kalou had another chance in the closing stages but a desperate lunge from Gary Neville diverted the ball away from the target.

Sir Alex Ferguson is convinced that Real Madrid will once again come sniffing for Cristiano Ronaldo in the January transfer window, but is adamant that Manchester United will not let the Spanish champions get their mitts on the Portugal winger.

Ronaldo’s expected move to the Spanish capital dominated much of the summer transfer window, with the player himself consistently making noises that he wanted out.

United, led by a defiant Ferguson, dug their heels in and kept hold of their prized asset despite murmurings of a bid well in excess of the previous world record transfer fee of £46 million that Madrid paid for Zinedine Zidane.

"Real Madrid's interest in Cristiano will continue," Ferguson told the Daily Express.

"They didn't sign anyone in the summer. The coach Bernd Schuster went on holiday when they would not sign David Villa. He will be champing at the bit to get a big player in the summer so it's all going to happen again.

"Don't worry, it will all happen again in January.

"He has four years left on his contract. We are in the right position to dismiss Real Madrid."

Ronaldo is expected to return to United’s starting lineup for the first time since May’s Champions League final when they make the trip to face Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.

Ronaldo was unable to turn things around as a second-half substitute

Sir Alex Ferguson says his Manchester United team will soon return to form following their goalless draw with Villarreal in the Champions League.

Having collected just one win and four goals in six games, United face Premier League leaders Chelsea on Sunday.

"We are a bit short but the games will bring us on," said Ferguson.

"We will improve from now. We have a little bit to go yet. But once the sharpness of play comes, I am sure the goals will come as well."

It has been a lacklustre start to the season for the 2008 Champions League winners and Premier League champions.

They needed penalties to overcome Portsmouth in the Community Shield after a goalless draw, and drew 1-1 with Newcastle in their opening league game.

They won 1-0 away at Portsmouth but then lost 2-1 to Russian side Zenit St Petersburg in the Uefa Super Cup, followed by Saturday's 2-1 loss at Liverpool.

Former Manchester United defender Gary Pallister believes the first few results should be a source of concern for the Old Trafford hierarchy.

"They are simply not playing well enough," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It was unusual for them to be outfought at Liverpool. It's the biggest game on the calendar for Manchester United and they usually put up a good fist of things down there.

"They were outfought on Saturday, they didn't manage to score again last night and the manager's said it's not been good enough."

Pallister is confident United will bounce back to form but said a poor start could prove very costly in the long run.

"What's happened with United over the last two seasons when they've won the Premier League - and obviously last year the Champions League - is they've started really well," he said.

"They've been fit and raring to go right from the start of the season."

He added: "It's unusual to see them have such a sluggish start. OK, (Cristiano) Ronaldo's not been there - and that's a huge miss for any team - but they've got to cope with that.

"They've got the likes of (Carlos) Tevez, (Wayne) Rooney, (Dimitar) Berbatov, they should be performing better right now."

Berbatov missed Tuesday's game against Villarreal because of injury as United failed to create many chances to at Old Trafford.

Their best effort came from Jonny Evans, whose late header hit a post.

However, Ferguson was satisfied with his team's performance and delighted with the return of Ronaldo, who was making his first appearance of the season as a second-half substitute.

Ronaldo has spent two months recovering from surgery but came on for the last 25 minutes against Villarreal.

Ferguson revealed the Portuguese winger was unlikely to start against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge but was delighted to have him back nonetheless.

"That was his first game back so it is a big ask to think about Sunday," said the 67-year-old Scot. "To come back like that, without a practice match or anything, the boy has done very well."

Berbatov, a £30.75m signing from Spurs on transfer deadline day, remains a doubt for the weekend with a knee injury.

"Dimitar has a chance for Sunday but it is too early to say for certain," said Ferguson.

The US Federal Reserve has announced an $85bn (£48bn) rescue package for AIG, the country's biggest insurance company, to save it from bankruptcy.

AIG will get an $85bn loan, in return for an 80% public stake in the firm.

The rescue follows the collapse of US investment giant Lehman Brothers, which caused share prices to plummet across the world's financial markets.

Authorities are hoping the bail-out will avert the threat of a global financial meltdown.

The Fed's move is viewed by some as the most radical intervention in private business in its history and has helped fuel a tentative rally on global stock markets.

The past few days have seen dramatic events unfold in the financial world:

• The UK's top mortgage lender HBOS is in merger talks with Lloyds TSB after a steep fall in HBOS shares

• The Fed and the US Treasury say AIG's bailout will protect the interests of US taxpayers
• US interest rates have been kept on hold despite widespread calls for a cut
• Barclays says it is buying some of the core assets of US investment bank Lehman Brothers for $1.75bn (£1bn)

'Challenging times'

The Federal Reserve made its decision about AIG "with the full support of the Treasury Department", it said in a statement, adding that the secured loan included conditions designed to protect "the interests of the US government and taxpayers".

The US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson refused to bail out America's fourth-largest investment bank Lehman Brothers after it filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday.

But he supported the rescue of AIG and said the move would protect taxpayers.

"These are challenging times for our financial markets," he said.

The rescue of AIG - which has a trillion dollars in assets and insures bank loans around the world - helped world stock markets rally.

Wednesday trading saw gains in Tokyo, Taiwan, Singapore and Seoul, though prices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Australia fell.

European markets were higher, but trading was volatile.

The dollar also rose against major currencies.

AIG's 'tentacles'

Analysts said the demise of AIG - which has policy holders in more than 100 countries and insures deals and investments across the globe - would have had a far greater impact on financial markets than Lehman's collapse.

These are challenging times for our financial markets US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson

Were the company to fail, many banks and investment funds around the world would lose their insurance cover at a time when defaults on payments are likely to rise.

The Governor of New York, David Paterson, said AIG had so many business interests it would be hard to predict how widespread its bankruptcy would have been felt.

"Its tentacles go further in to the avenues of business, as in mortgages, as in credit, as in hedge funds, as in countless ways that affect consumers, that affect drivers, that affect homeowners, affect passengers," he said.

AIG had posted losses in each of the last nine months.

It was badly affected by the collapse of the US housing market, says the BBC's business reporter Rob Young, owing to the underwriting payments it was forced to make when customers defaulted on their loans.

Market slump

The AIG plan calls for the government to seize up to 80% of the company and remove its management, in a similar fashion to the way it took control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were crippled by the US housing crisis.

AIG - KEY FACTS Employs 116,000 people in more than 100 countries Employs more than 2,000 people in the UK Founded in 1919 in Shanghai Now based in New York Sponsors Manchester United Sells insurance policies through Argos and Boots Source: AIG

The White House welcomed the package, saying the deal was made "in the interest of promoting stability in financial markets and limiting damage to the broader economy".

Meanwhile, the Fed has left interest rates unchanged at 2% despite calls for a cut. The BBC's Matthew Price in New York said the bank had decided an interest rate cut would not help to alleviate the short-term financial crisis.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rallied on Tuesday, closing 141 points higher having on Monday suffered its worst day's trading since the September 2001 attacks on the US.

Central banks around the world responded by carrying out emergency measures to keep markets liquid.

The extra funding came as the interest rates at which banks lend to each other rocketed - as they did at the start of the credit crunch

Goal.com's Sulmaan Ahmad does his utmost to explain just how a relatively unassuming golfer earns more than Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka put together...

 The sporting rich list makes for curious reading. With all due respect, a vast majority of people worldwide reading the name Phil Mickelson would think it's a typo. But no, Mickelson - not Nickelson, or Nicholson, for that matter - is a 38-year-old American golfer, and renowned as the second best in the world. Avram Grant finished second in the Champions League, Premier League and Carling Cup in charge of Chelsea last season and got fired, Mickelson is second in the world and earned a staggering $62.3 million between June 2007 and 2008. Fair? Clearly, there's no such thing as a fair way on the fairway in the fast life of a golfer.

Lefty's hefty salary puts him at number two on the rich list of the sporting world and, if the second best golfer is the second highest earner, there are no prizes for guessing who holds the top spot. Arguably the greatest golfer of all time - and he certainly will be by the time he retires - Tiger Woods has for successive years been named the highest earning athlete in the world. The 32-year-old is making over twice as much as Mickelson - $127.9m - and looks set to become the first ever athlete to make over a billion dollars in earnings by 2010.

Role Of The Sponsors

Golf's monopoly on the top spots ends at second, as the 'global game' squeezes its way into the top three - and who other than David Beckham could come to soccer's rescue? Beckham cashed in $48.2m last year - far and away more than any other player - but contrary to popular belief, very little of that money is part of his basic contract. Noticeably past his prime as a player, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star earns approximately $5.3m-a-year from his contract with Los Angeles Galaxy. That may make him the highest earner in Major League Soccer, but there are many in Europe earning double that with their clubs.

Becks gets the majority of his money from Pepsi, Adidas, Police sunglasses, Sharpie permanent markers and whatever else he can get his hands on - and why not? He has even been able to ditch a big-money deal with Gillette and afford the luxury of some designer stubble and tell Brylcreem where to go when he shaved his head way back when.

Speaking of sponsors, there is no shortage of money in Formula One racing, no doubt due to the logos plastered all over each car like a collage gone horribly wrong. Lewis Hamilton's rise to stardom over the past 18 months has seen the money roll in at $27.6m per year, yet he's not quite in the same league as Kimi Räikkönen, with the emerging Finn hot on Beckham's trail with his cool return of $46m, though it could rise as high as $51m depending on his success rate. Fernando Alonso had been earning even more, but abandoned a lucrative contract with McLaren, switching back to Renault and having to settle for $35m, though that figure could rise back up to around $45m. To put matters in perspective, the invincible Michael Schumacher earned as much as both Alonso and Räikkönen put together when in his prime and the sporting world's highest earner, having since retired in 2006.

Thus when we turn our attention back to the golf course we see where the money really comes from. It is estimated that approximately $105m of Tiger Woods' overall earnings came from sponsorship deals. Mickelson, too, earns five times as much from his sponsors than he does on the golf course, by virtue of his every item of clothing being branded by the likes of accounting firm KPMG, Barclays bank and Rolex. We can say he chose his sponsors wisely - but who knew golfers were so marketable? After all, how many people are really watching when compared with other major sports? More than we thought, it seems - or maybe it's that golf viewers remain of the upper class and are in such a high financial bracket that advertisers go the extra monetary mile to attract their attention.

Contracts

But what about contracts? Surely they're the real measure of the athlete? To that end, great interest surrounds who has the biggest contract, or in other words, whose talent is worth the most money. The results are surprising: Beckham and Mickelson are among the lowest earners in the entire 'rich list' of top athletes, yet sponsors shoot them all the way up to third and second respectively. Baseball star Alex Rodriguez has far and away the largest contract in professional sport, earning an unbelievable $29m per year from the New York Yankees.

Behind him is Woods, followed by other top stars in individual sports. Take boxing: 'Pretty Boy' Floyd Mayweather gave Ricky Hatton the runaround on his way to earning $20m in December, remaining unbeaten and picking up another $20.25m in sponsors. Publicity stunts such as his infamous parading around in a Manchester United shirt to anger Manchester City fan Hatton have done wonders for the undefeated phenom's image worldwide, though his earnings may well have now peaked, as he officially announced his retirement in June this year.

Then there is Roger Federer - very much the Tiger Woods of tennis - who isn't far off the pace either. Total earnings of $35m make the Swiss machine far and away the highest earner on the court, despite his drop in earnings due to losing top spot in the world rankings to Rafael Nadal this year. Maria Sharapova, with $21.75m, is the only woman to make the list, though young golfer Michelle Wie may soon have something to say about that. Sharapova's winnings are the lowest on the entire list, but she earns almost 20 times as much through sponsors, showing the potential marketability of women in the sporting world.

The Rich List

Rank	Athlete (Sport)	Salary	Sponsors	Total
01	Tiger Woods (Golf)	$22.9m	$105m	$127.9m
02	Phil Mickelson (Golf)	$9.3m	$53m	$62.3m
03	David Beckham (Soccer)	$5.3m	$42.9	$48.2m
04	Kimi Räikkönen (Formula One)	n/a	n/a	$46m
05	LeBron James (Basketball)	$12.5m	$28m	$40.5m
06	Floyd Mayweather (Boxing)	$20m	$20.25m	$40.25m
07	Lionel Messi (Soccer)	$12.5m	$23.3m	$35.8m
08	Kobe Bryant (Basketball)	$19.5m	$16m	$35.5m
09	Roger Federer (Tennis)	$10.1m	$25m	$35.1m
10	Fernando Alonso (Formula One)	n/a	n/a	$35m
11	Alex Rodriguez (Baseball)	$29m	$6m	$35m
12	Shaquille O'Neal (Basketball)	$20m	$15m	$35m
13	Ronaldinho (Soccer)	$7.5m	$27.5m	$35m
14	Valentino Rossi (Moto GP)	$6m	$28m	$34m
15	Kevin Garnett (Basketball)	$22m	$9m	$31m
16	Peyton Manning (Football)	$17.5m	$13m	$30.5m
17	Cristiano Ronaldo (Soccer)	$11.4m	$18.9m	$30.3m
18	Derek Jeter (Baseball)	$22m	$8m	$30m
19	Ichiro Suzuki (Baseball)	$17m	$10.6m	$27.6m
20	Lewis Hamilton (Formula One)	n/a	n/a	$27.6m
21	Thierry Henry (Soccer)	$11.4m	$14.7m	$26.1m
22	Maria Sharapova (Tennis)	$1.9m	$18.85m	$21.75m
23	John Terry (Soccer)	$12.1m	$9.5m	$21.6m
24	Michael Ballack (Soccer)	$11.6m	$9.9m	$21.5m
25	Kaka (Soccer)	$13.4m	$6.7m	$20.1m

Not all top earners are included; many athletes - mostly basketballers - earning between $20-30m have been omitted so that the list did not get too long. Also note that no salaries or winnings figures are 100% accurate as they ultimately remain confidential.

Land Of The Free (And Rich)

The $30 million and above club is dominated almost entirely by American sports - basketball by far the richest, then baseball and to a lesser extent, football - it's only from then on that soccer's familiar faces enter the fray. Beckham aside, Ronaldinho also cracks Team America's stranglehold on the financial world of sport. Despite taking a pay cut to join Milan, the Gaucho is still thought to earn almost $35m annually, of which at least $27.5m comes through sponsors. The bucktoothed wonder may have temporarily lost his smile, form and fitness, but the money keeps rolling on in regardless by virtue of those years that he was quite simply playing like one of the greatest of all time.

His former Barcelona team-mate, Lionel Messi, is another who has hit the big time. Very much Ronaldinho's successor for the Blaugrana, the unstoppable Argentine's humble nature, garden gnome facial expression and two-dollar haircut might fool you into believing he didn't smash his way past $30m last year, but apparently, he did.

Naturally, we could only go so far without mentioning the undisputed centre of attention in the beautiful game, the most maligned of the moment, in Cristiano Ronaldo. C-Ron earned just over $30m last year, and Uncle Alex will no doubt be lining some Portuguese pockets with a little extra after the 23-year-old chose to stay at Old Trafford this summer, turning down his dream move to Real Madrid following a confidential heart-to-heart with the wily old Scot in July. In due time he is sure to soar all the way up this list, but for now, he surprisingly finds himself in a comparitively modest position on the rich list. Maybe Sepp Blatter was right all along, the multi-millionaire must really be a slave after all.

But let's forget the Messi and Ronaldo hype for a minute: what about the man who was voted as and officially remains World and European Player of the Year? Never fear, Milanello, as Kaka is in fact in possession of the most lucrative contract, worth almost $13.5m per year.

Ignoring the fact that A-Rod earns over twice as much in basic wage alone, let's remain focused on the positives: Kaka edges Lionel Messi in the contract stakes, despite his club being notoriously short of cash at the minute - so much so that they're still trying to convince themselves that Philippe Senderos isn't Arsenal's worst defender, Andriy Shevchenko isn't past it and Giuseppe Favalli didn't lose whatever little talent he had 750 years ago. Surprisingly, Kaka only picks up about $6.7m in sponsorship deals. The picture of professionalism, the Brazilian wouldn't look out of place on a golf course himself - it's a miracle he's not making more. Behind Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo is the next most marketable footballer - last year netting $18.9m in addition to the $11.4m from his contract - and his stock is bound to continue rising.

Another Barça player - the third of the erstwhile Fantastic Four - is the next highest earner in the game. Thierry Henry, who established himself as one of the best players in the world during his days with Arsenal, has contractual parity with Cristiano Ronaldo since signing for Barcelona. However, despite a lucrative deal he, Federer and Woods have with Gillette as well as his va-va-voom franchise with Renault, France's all-time leading scorer's sponsorship earnings aren't in the same league as either of them, at 'just' $14.7m. Poor Samuel Eto'o: no wonder he was so full of outrageous wage demands this summer - he was just trying to break even with his buddies.

The last of the money men are what can only be described as Roman Abramovich's boys - the Chelsea lot. John Terry and Michael Ballack earn $21.6m and $21.5m respectively, Frank Lampard is on the same $12.1m wage as Terry - a fraction more than Ballack for ego's sake and little more - while Didier Drogba is making $10.5m as well. We can't forget Andriy Shevchenko, who cost the Blues $60m and is still earning $11.1m a year, though on loan at Milan and no doubt in line for one hell of a pay cut if the move is made permanent as expected. What he and others such as Ronaldinho and Henry demonstrate is that often the most money will fall at the feet of athletes once they have already peaked - it's all downhill from there - yet they continue to make the most money off the back of former glories while the new school are making history in the now. Who might we see on this list in two or three years' time?

If Emmanuel Adebayor had his way, he'd probably be top of the pile now and forever, because he's just that damn good. However, as it stands, it is of little surprise that none of the Wenger boys made the cut, while Liverpool's Steven Gerrard is close but doesn't quite break $20m a year. Manchester United's top earner is thought to be Wayne Rooney, while Real Madrid super-stopper Iker Casillas, Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Internazionale and Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero are all close by as well.

At the end of the day, all of our leading stars in the world's most popular sport must resign themselves to the fact that basketball is twice as lucrative though half as popular, the fattest contract goes to a man who plays a sport which even a large percentage of Americans admit is boring, and the biggest sponsorship deals and overall earnings to two guys who star in a sport that athletes, doctors and your father tend to play during their time off. We could all be rich...

 

Club Honours		FA Cup	Winners 1909, 1948, 1963, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004; Runners-up 1957, 1958, 1976, 1979, 1995, 2005, 2007.
League Cup	Winners 1992, 2006; Runners-up 1983, 1991, 1994, 2003.
Europe	European Cup: Winners 1968. UEFA Champions League: Winners 1999, 2008. European Cup-Winners' Cup: Winners 1991. European Super Cup: Winners 1991. Inter-Continental Cup: Winners 1999.
Other	FA Charity/Community Shield: Winners 1908, 1911, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1965 (shared), 1967 (shared), 1977 (shared), 1983, 1990 (shared), 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007.

Carlos Tevez has admitted he would love to sign a long-term contract at Manchester United.

The Argentina international is technically still on loan at the Red Devils, with that agreement set to reach a conclusion at the end of the current campaign.

United are keen to tie the powerful front-man down on a permanent basis, with a £30million transfer believed to have been discussed with the South American's representatives.

It is obvious why Sir Alex Ferguson is so keen to retain the services of the former Boca Juniors man, as a fine debut season last year has been followed by an impressive start to the current campaign.

Tevez currently represents the reigning Premier League champions' most potent attacking threat and is hoping his continued adaptation to life in England will be suitably rewarded.

Wonderful

"From the first moment I came here I would have loved to sign a long-term contract," he said.

"Last year was a very happy season and it would be wonderful if the chairman put a long-term contract in front of me.

"If he did that I would sign it without a doubt."

Big boost

Tevez formed a formidable three-pronged strike force with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney last season, but has seen that understanding broken by the winger's summer ankle surgery.

The Portuguese superstar is in line to make his eagerly anticipated return to action in Wednesday's UEFA Champions League opener against Villarreal, and Tevez is delighted to see his mercurial team-mate back in the fold.

"Cristiano is a massive player for us," said the Argentina forward.

"It is like having an extra player when he is there.

"He is such a danger to our opponents. It will be a big boost to have him back."

Manchester United have confirmed that Michael Carrick will be missing for four to six weeks after it emerged the midfielder had broken a bone in his foot.

The former Tottenham man suffered the break in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield and had to be replaced during the match by Ryan Giggs.

Speaking to the press ahead of tomorrow night’s Champions League opener against Villareal, manager Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed the news. 

“Michael Carrick, as you know, it's not worked out for us. He came off on Saturday and he's got a crack in his foot,” said the United boss before revealing, “It was diagnosed on Sunday afternoon and he'll be out for four to six weeks, which is not good news.”

The injury will come as a blow to Carrick who had only just returned to the side following an ankle injury which he picked up on the opening day of the season against Newcastle United.

He will now miss the beginning of United’s defence of their Champions League trophy as well as the visit to Chelsea at the weekend and upcoming Premier League fixtures against Bolton, Middlesbrough and Blackburn.

Yet the Old Trafford side are well stocked for midfielders and have also been handed the added boost that Cristiano Ronaldo should be fit enough to make the bench for tomorrow’s game against Villareal.

Paul Scholes, however, will be suspended for the match, having been sent off in the Super Cup against Zenit St Petersburg, and Ferguson will need to shuffle his midfield options with the returning Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Darren Fletcher all hoping to be involved at some point.

Gill Clark