Man United target set for €40m Zenit St. Petersburg move

Manchester United target Axel Witsel could be heading to Zenit St. Petersburg for a staggering £40m.
The Benfica midfielder was heavily scouted while he was at Standard Liege between 2006-11 but United lost out in the battle to sign him.
Sir Alex Ferguson is a huge admirer of the 23-year-old and has continued to track him in Portugal.
But United could miss out on Witsel again, with Zenit firmly in the running to sign the Belgium international.
The transfer window is still open in Russia and it is understood Zenit are ready to make their move.

EXCLUSIVE: Man United Vs Southamton Players ratings.

A.Lindergaard: 8
P.Evra: 8.5
N.Vidic: 8
R.Ferdinand: 7.5
D.S.Rafael: 7.5
A.Valencia: 8.5
M.Carrick: 7
T.Cleverley: 8
S.Kagawa: 7
D.Welbeck: 7.5
R.Van Persie: 9

Replacement:
Nani: 8.5
Schooles: 7.5
Chicharito: 8.5

MAN OF THE MATCH: ROBIN VAN PERSIE

Penalty relief for Robin

Despite netting his first United hat-trick during Sunday’s 3-2 win over Southampton, Robin van Persie was left frustrated and slightly apologetic after the Dutchman missed a second-half penalty at St Mary's.
Van Persie, who struck three goals to take his tally to four from just two starts, claimed the match ball to pull United from the brink of defeat on the south coast. However, the 29-year-old admitted he was “quite disappointed” after his chipped spot-kick was saved by Kelvin Davis.
“It’s three points and a little headache for me,” Robin told Sky Sports and MUTV. “I don’t know what I was thinking with the penalty. I wanted to hit it hard like I always do but at the last second I changed my mind, somehow. That wasn’t good enough so that was a bit of a down. I’m quite disappointed to be fair. I ask a certain standard from my game and when something like that happens, when you’re 2-1 down, you can’t take a penalty like that.
“It is me who is to blame. I don’t know what went wrong but something went wrong big time, so I have to work on that. After that I was very relieved that we got the three points, trust me.”
After the match, Sir Alex Ferguson expressed his shock towards his striker's penalty approach: “I was surprised he took it that way. Normally, he rattles them in the net. Every time I've seen him he thunders it home left and right. Maybe he was over-confident. He bailed us out anyway with the two goals late on.”

Boss: It's unbelievable

Sir Alex Ferguson admits United's unbelievable character transformed an entertaining game at Southampton, while paying tribute to several of his stars and not just hat-trick hero Robin van Persie.
Paul Scholes, Javier Hernandez and Rio Ferdinand were also praised for their part in overturning a 2-1 deficit at St Mary's in the final stages as the Reds made the boss' 1,000th league game in charge of the team a winning one.
"We never give up," he told MUTV. "Of course, it's in the history books. Well done to the lads for coming back. We do that all the time at our club and I expect 10 like that a season so that's one out of the way! It's unbelievable - it really is.
"But we didn't start playing until Scholes came onto the pitch with his range of passing, his consistency of passing and his presence turned the game for us.
"I thought we had reasonable control in the first half but lost a goal to a back-post cross, something we worked on all week, but credit to Southampton as they are good at it and put us on the back foot. We got the equaliser through a fantastic goal from Robin and I thought it would give us the opportunity to get our act together in the second half.
"Credit to Southampton, they kept loading the ball forward and played some nice football in midfield. They were the better team when they went 2-1 up but, when Scholes came on, the game changed.
"Robin has got four goals in two starts, which is a great statistic, and he'll get better. Chicharito also came on and made a difference. He started stretching them with fantastic runs off the ball
and I was delighted with his performance."
In terms of conceding two goals for a second successive fixture, Sir Alex is convinced his defence will improve.
"I think when you play two centre-backs regularly, you get consistent results," he added. "That's always been the case.
"This season, we had four centre-backs out and Michael Carrick played back there with Antonio Valencia at right-back. With the best will in the world, it's never going to be a perfect solution.
"Rio was back and did better in the second half. He took time to get into the game in the first half but ended up playing very well for us. Nemanja Vidic is getting there. I think if those two keep fit and we get all the centre-backs fit, it will give us a really good chance.
"In goal, it was a big decision but I thought David De Gea lost a bad goal last week. He has to learn quickly, you know. He'll be back after the international break but Anders had his first game. I thought he was a little bit nervous at points but he's a very good keeper also. I don't think it's a big issue but it's something you have to deal with."
Sir Alex was talking to MUTV and Sky Sports.

EXCLUSIVE: Player (Debut-First hat-trick)

Sir Bobby Charlton (6.10.56-18.2.57)

Andy Cole (22.1.95-4.3.95) Jimmy Greenhoff (20.11.76-19.2.77)
Denis Law (18.8.62-3.11.62)
Brian McClair (15.8.87-2.4.88)
Willie Morgan (28.8.68-19.3.69)
Michael Owen (9.8.09-8.12.09)
Stuart Pearson (17.8.74-2.11.74)
Wayne Rooney (28.9.04)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (12.8.01-22.12.01)
Dwight Yorke (22.8.98-16.1.99)

Vidic unhappy with defending

Nemanja Vidic feels United still have plenty of work to do in defence after consecutive 3-2 victories in the Barclays Premier League.
The fit-again skipper was reunited with Rio Ferdinand at Southampton for the first time in a league fixture since 3 December, although the pair did play together on three occasions during pre-season.
Although delighted to secure the three points ahead of the international break, the Serbian wants to start keeping clean sheets when  domestic action resumes.
"It was a difficult game and we conceded two goals we're not happy with at all," he stated on MUTV. "We've been told before the game what Southampton's strengths are, what their game is and what they're trying to achieve. In the end, they did it so it's disappointing.
"I think it's only the second time in a year myself and Rio have played together so it's a long time and obviously it's tough as everyone needs more games.
"I have to say, we are not really pleased with the goals we've conceded. There was a lack of concentration, I think, for all four goals we lost [in the last two games] but we have to work on it. You have to say we've had a lot of turbulence in defence with so many changes and people going in and going out.
"We didn't have a constant back four and sometimes it causes a problem, but we look forward to the next games. We have over a week to improve our fitness and obviously our form so we are going to be right for the next game in the Premier League."

Early United hat-tricks

Amid all the excitement at St Mary's on Sunday, it's worth putting Robin van Persie's achievement into perspective after his hat-trick ensured a 3-2 win against Southampton.
The new signing took only three games, two starts, to bag a treble for United to put him in an elite group of players who have so quickly become Old Trafford heroes with their goalscoring exploits.
Of course, Wayne Rooney famously smashed all records with three goals on his debut in an unforgettable Champions League tie with Fenerbahce in 2004. But van Persie's current team-mate is the only player quicker to grab hold of the match-ball after pulling on the red shirt for the first time.
Since the War, a number of stars have netted hat-tricks in their first season, including the recently-departed Michael Owen who showed vintage form in the win at Wolfsburg in his 20th appearance but only his eighth start after arriving on a free transfer.