United ace gets vice-captaincy nod off Capello

The Three Lions coach controversially took the captain's armband off Ferdinand in March and reinstated Chelsea's John Terry, who had been stripped of the honour for personal reasons in the first place.

And, as the Red Devils stopper prepares to return to the international fold for England in Saturday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley, Capello confirmed he has told Ferdinand the reasons why he opted to give Terry the captaincy back and revealed that he is now second in command.

"The captain is John Terry, Rio is vice-captain," said Capello.

"I have spoken with Rio and told him why I made my decision. He said some things to me.
"He wasn't happy but he understood. At the end, we shook hands."

Capello also dismissed fears that Ferdinand could have walked away from international football following his demotion.

"I never thought he would stop playing with us. Not at all," added the Italian.

"He likes to play with the national team. He is an important player and personality, for what he can do in the dressing room."

Nani inches towards United exit with Young set to sign - Exclusive

Nani’s future at ­Manchester United will come under ­scrutiny once the Premier League champions have ­completed the capture of ­Ashley Young.

The Portuguese winger is unhappy that United have ­refused to offer him an ­improvement on the £70,000-a-week contract ­extension that he signed last March.

And with United set to ­complete the ­£15million ­signing of Young from Aston Villa now that the winger has ­returned from ­international duty with England, Sir Alex ­Ferguson could cash in on the 24-year-old if Real Madrid firm up interest in him by lodging a bid.

Nani was ­bitterly disappointed that ­Ferguson left him out of his team to face ­Barcelona in the ­Champions League last week at the end of a ­season which saw him named United’s ­Player of the Year.

Ferguson opted for the ­industry of Antonio Valencia and Ji-sung Park on the flanks instead of the creativity of the Portuguese international.

Nani has found himself ­increasingly marginalised on the substitutes’ bench since Valencia returned to full ­fitness following an horrific broken leg he suffered early in the season.

Bench-warmer Berba makes Fans' Team of the Year

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov may struggle to make Sir Alex Ferguson’s starting line-up these days.

But the bench-warming Bulgarian – left out of United’s beaten Champions League Final squad – scored enough goals to convince the fans he was worth a place in their all-star side.

The Premier League’s joint top scorer hit 21 goals which played a key part in the title going to Old ­Trafford.

Berbatov was one of the surprise packages in our side along with West Brom’s Peter Odemwingie (below).

Sunderland fan Scott Bentley commented: “Odemwingie is the new hero of The ­Hawthorns. His 15 goals this season have rocketed the Russian-born ­Nigerian striker towards the top end of the scoring charts and made West Brom safe.

“Albion got real value for money from a striker snapped up for a ­reported £1million. He is definitely one of this season’s success stories.”

The Football Supporters ­Federation stands up for fans’ rights, fights on a wide range of issues – and membership is free.

United want to keep Macheda at Old Trafford, claims agent

Manchester United want to keep Federico Macheda at Old Trafford next season, claims the player's agent.

The 19 year-old spent much of last season on loan at Sampdoria, but again Giovanni Bia told an Italian radio station:

“As far as I am aware, Manchester United intend to keep Macheda.

“They don’t want to loan him out again.”

Decision time: Sir Alex Ferguson faces tough Manchester United call as rivals up ante for top English talent

Sir Alex Ferguson fears Arsenal and Liverpool will force his hand over long-term targets Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson.

The Manchester United manager has asked to be kept informed about two of English football’s brightest prospects, but has higher priorities as he plans to overhaul his squad this summer.

His top targets include Ashley Young, Luka Modric, Wesley Sneijder and Jack Rodwell in what is expected to be his biggest spending spree since 2007.

He maintains an interest in Southampton winger Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sunderland midfielder Henderson but neither would be seen as being able to make the significant impact at United that Ferguson is looking for after Champions League final defeat to Barcelona last Saturday.

Arsene Wenger and Kenny Dalglish are aware of Ferguson’s interest and are trying to steal a march on the Premier League champions.