Nemanja Vidic

Nemanja Vidic

Nemanja Vidić signed for Manchester United for a reported fee of around £7 million on January 5, 2006; two and a half years after Manchester United's reported interest in him. He was assigned the number 15 shirt and made his debut for Manchester United as a substitute for Ruud van Nistelrooy in the dying minutes of Manchester United's 2-1 win in the Carling Cup semi-final second leg against Blackburn Rovers on January 25, 2006.

During the 2006-07 Premier league season, Vidić formed a partnership with Rio Ferdinand in the centre of defence, which has since become one of the most prominent partnerships in English football, and has become an established first team player. In his first full season playing for Manchester United he made 25 appearances in the Premier league and ended the season winning his first league medal.

The Serbian began his career with boyhood club Red Star Belgrade, joining their youth programme at 14. His first-team debut didn't arrive until 2001 but he went on to make 22 appearances in his first season.

He eventually ended his stay with Red Star by leading them to Serbia's domestic league and cup double before switching to Russian outfit Spartak Moscow in August 2004. Just 39 games and four goals later, United came calling.

The Reds announced his signing on Christmas Day, 2005. He hadn’t played for two months as the Russian season had recently ended, so it took time for his true ability to shine. But after completing an intensive training programme, Vida began to show his class.A collar-bone injury sustained at the end of March 2007 kept Vidic out of the bulk of United's title run-in that season, but his performances until that point had been strong enough to help the Reds to the top of the league. His play also inspired a rousing song among the matchgoing faithful.

The Serbian’s impressive performances continued and earned him a contract extension in 2007.
He said of the improved deal:

“Playing in this team is a great privilege. This is such a great club, I am delighted to be able to extend my stay here. The fans and everyone at the club have been very special to me. I hope I can do my bit to bring the club even more trophies in the years ahead.”

True to his word, he did just that in 2008/09, helping the Reds to an 18th league title, the FIFA Club World Cup and the Carling Cup. Much of the success could be attributed to Vidic's fine form, a fact not lost on his team-mates, who voted the towering Serbian defender the players' player of the year at the Reds' end-of-season awards. He was also the fans' choice, picking up the coveted Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award.

Injury and an ever-changing back four prevented Nemanja from bettering those achievements in 2009/10, although he still played a key role in the Reds' charge towards glory both at home and abroad. His influence on other defenders, most notably Jonny Evans, was also significant and will ensure United's back four remains tight for years to come.

He penned a new four-year deal with the club in the summer of 2010 which will keep him at Old Trafford until at least 2014.