Vidic agent denies Barcelona statements

Asked about the new rumours linking Manchester United central defender and Serbian international Nemanja Vidic (27) with a move to Barcelona (read more here), the player's adviser Paolo Fabbri is quoted by British tabloid The Daily Express as denying that he has said Vidic would like to join Barcelona stating that he has been misquoted:

"This is not true. I never said these things. Nemanja is happy in Manchester. If Barcelona do make an offer for him then it is up to United to make a decision. I am planning to come to England shortly, along with Vidic's agent Silvano Martina, but this is only for a routine chat with United officials."

British newspaper The Times meanwhile claims that Manchester United is preparing to offer Vidic a new contract. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has recommended that the club offer him a pay rise and an extension to his contract, which expires in 2012.

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Agents Vidic dismiss Barcelona rumours

Asked about the rumours linking Manchester United central defender and Serbian international Nemanja Vidic (27) with a move to Barcelona (read more here), the player's agent Paolo Fabbri said in an interview with British sports site Setanta that the player won't leave this summer:

"Nemanja Vidic will stay in Manchester. I don't think we will have any surprises in the short term. We are not planning to move. This week, on Monday and Tuesday, we were at Manchester United to speak with David Gill, for other reasons, but we also spoke about Vidic.

Vidic is supposed to stay there. A move is not possible unless some Arab makes a crazy offer! But in a normal situation, Nemanja will stay there. Barcelona and many other teams can be interested in Vidic - that is another story. Three or four Italian teams would be pleased to have the player. But he is under contract. His deal has been already extended until 2012."

Another agent of the Serbian defender, Silvano Martina, said the same in an interview with Italian sports site 24 Ore di Sport: "No, there's no chance that Vidic leaves Manchester. Despite losing the Champions League final, he is at a great club with a lot of ambition, that has reached the final of the greatest European competition for two consecutive years now. This season, he also won the Premier League."

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Possible package offer for Buffon and Trezeguet

Italian sports site Sportmediaset meanwhile claims that Juventus goalkeeper and Italian international Gianluigi Buffon (31) is the first name on Barcelona's target list in case the club wouldn't find a renewal agreement with Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés (28) (read more here).

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain would already have been in contact with Silvano Martina, the agent of Buffon, to hear more about the situation of the goalkeeper (read more here).

Italian sports paper Il Corriere dello Sport claims that Barcelona would be waiting for the right moment to try to close a deal and could make a bid of 50 million euro°. The paper also claims that Barcelona could make Juventus a package offer for Buffon plus Juventus forward David Trezeguet (31), while the Italian club could ask to include Barcelona players like Samuel Eto'o (28), Yaya Touré (25) and Andrés Iniesta (24) in the deal.

Asked about the statement of Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli that Buffon could be for sale if a good offer comes in, Buffon's agent Martina said earlier this week in an interview with Italian radio staion Radio Kiss Kiss that the goalkeeper is not looking for an exit:

"Buffon won't leave Turin, unless a crazy offer comes in because every player is on the market. All I can say about what the papers are writing is just that there's no truth in that. Gigi has a contract until 2013 and feels at home here. He just renewed his contract for five more seasons last year, so there's nothing that indicates that he wants to leave. If we receive an offer we will nevertheless evaluate it and discuss it with the club."

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