The defender's Old Trafford future could be in doubt with Vidic accused of delivering a scathing attack on life in Manchester.

The quotes criticise the Lancashire climate and the culture of the English people - whilst Vidic has also, supposedly, claimed that he'd rather test himself in the Spanish League.

He is accused of telling a Russian magazine: "I will never stay to live in England, that's for sure...The climate here is something special. You get only a brief glimpse of sunlight before it's all cloudy again.

"The winters are mild but in summer the temperatures seldom go higher than 20 degrees, and it rains, rains, rains.

"In England they say that Manchester is the city of rain. Its main attraction is considered to be the timetable at the railway station where trains leave for other, less rainy cities.

"In future I would like to test myself in another top league. I'm thinking of Spain. At least there will be no reason to complain about the weather."

His tirade, allegedly, didn't stop there: "It's not only the weather I'm not happy about here. They just don't have time to feel the joy of life. Throughout the week they all work so hard. They only talk to people at lunch break. Then in the evening they come home and watch the telly so they can get up early for work the next day."

The media printed these comments with glee on Wednesday morning - with Vidic's out-of-touch outburst following on nicely from the behaviour of Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov this morning.

If they are true, Vidic should take a step back and consider who pays his wages. The people who "look forward to their lunch breaks" and "don't have the joy of life" put themselves through it to do things like pay for Manchester United tickets which, in turn, pay your inflated wages.

However, the Serb has denied the comments and has explained that whilst he struggled to settle in Manchester, he would never dare say such things. Speaking to the club's official web-site, he said: "I'd like to clarify that I did not make these particular remarks. I spoke about the difficulty I had settling in to life in Manchester, but that does not reflect how I feel now."

It does seem strange that Vidic would make comments about Manchester's climate. Parts of his native Serbia have very cold winters, heavy inland snowfall and regular rainfall. Russia meanwhile, where he played for Spartak, is notorious for its cold winters.

Is this media hogwash or the real deal? Is hard-man Vidic a bit pathetic, really? Have your say on the messageboard.

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