; ; ; ; ; ;Preamble: ; ;If your gaze has alighted on a news bulletins in the last 24 hours your eyes might well have been assailed by incredibly important footage of David Beckham being shepherded through Manchester airport by squad of policemen. There are many thoughts that that scene may have provoked in your mind and I would...

; ; ; ; ; ;This evening needed every square inch of football heritage to conceal the drabness of the fixture. A capable team overwhelmed inept visitors. David Beckham eventually took the field as a substitute against his old club and was the perfect guest. The veteran won cheers for a shot that did no harm as the attempt was...

;All the best photos as David Beckham and AC Milan face Manchester United in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie ; ; ;Tom Jenkins ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

; ; ; ;• Manchester United face biggest potential exodus of supporters ;• Rising living costs behind thoughts not to renew next season ; ;Up to one in four season ticket holders of Premier League clubs are considering not renewing for next season in a bid to cut costs, according to a survey published today. ; ;The Virgin Money's authoritative...

;The Manchester United and AC Milan managers on David Beckham's return to Old Trafford in the Champions League ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

; ; ; ;• Preparation involves 'discretion and secrecy' ;• Manager has personal experience after incident in 2005 ; ;Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken of his concerns about the news that one of Fabio Capello's team-talks was bugged during England's preparations for their friendly against Egypt last week. ; ;Ferguson was speaking from personal knowledge after a device was planted...

;On the latest edition of ;The Business ;, ; ;Aditya Chakrabortty ; ; speaks to Lord Myners about the City minister's ;attack on the 'lazy and complacent' bankers ; who, he says, still haven't learned the lessons of the credit crunch. ; ;Also in the podcast, ; ;Tom Clark ; ; and ; ;Larry Elliott ; ; analyse the pros...

; ; ; ;• United manager warns 3-2 first-leg lead is precarious ;• Wayne Rooney will be fit to play despite knee injury ; ;There are some nights in the Champions League when it is more than just a football match; it is an occasion. Manchester United versus Milan, under the Old Trafford floodlights, is one of them – even...

; ; ; ;• Manchester United manager recalls similar case at Old Trafford ;• 'I would be concerned about it. You have to be' ; ;Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted news that the England squad's hotel was bugged last week is a concern. ; ;Although the precise details have not been revealed, it is thought the meeting room at their...

; ; ; ;• In-form striker back after knee injury ;• Wes Brown ruled out for four to six weeks ; ;Sir Alex Ferguson promised a fully-committed, attacking performance from his side in tomorrow's Champions League first knock-out round second-leg against Milan, where they will be protecting a 3-2 advantage from the first meeting at San Siro. ; ;They will...

; ; ; ;• Milan midfielder preparing to return to Old Trafford ;• Beating Manchester United will be 'a massive challenge' ; ;David Beckham has called Sir Alex Ferguson "a scary man" ahead of his first game at Old Trafford since he was sold to Real Madrid in 2003. The pair's relationship famously soured towards the end of Beckham's spell...

; ; ; ;• Top scorer looks set to overcome knee injury ;• Ryan Giggs out of contention despite run-out in training ; ;Wayne Rooney has provided Manchester United with a timely Champions League boost by taking part in training ahead of tomorrow's encounter with Milan. ; ;United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, said after Saturday's victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, which...

; ; ; ;• Defender suffered suspected metatarsal fracture at Wolves ;• Injury adds to Sir Alex Ferguson's selection problems ; ; ; ;Wes Brown is expected to be available for England's World Cup campaign this summer despite increasing Fabio Capello's defensive problems with a suspected metatarsal fracture sustained against Wolverhampton Wanderers. ; ;Manchester United are due to confirm the...

; ; ; ;Not surprisingly, the United manager is keeping his distance from the current insurgency over the Glazers' ownership ; ;Sir Alex Ferguson has let it be known that, contrary to an apparently well sourced report at the weekend, he is not involved with the group of bankers, hedge-fund managers and other businessmen attempting to wrest Manchester United out...

;Delia Smith, Hannibal Lecter and Monty Python's Black Knight all make an appearance in this week's entries ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

• Defender hails Scholes after midfielder's 100th league goal • Van der Sar optimistic ahead of Milan tie Rio Ferdinand has hailed Paul Scholes as "a true professional" after the 35-year-old scored his 100th league goal for Manchester United in the match against Wolves on Saturday. The former England midfielder scored the game's only goal to maintain United's winning form...

• Brazilian forward has recovered from hamstring injury • Pato hopes to help overturn 3-2 deficit from first leg Pato trained with Milan this morning and has been included in the squad to face Manchester United in the Champions League at Old Trafford on Wednesday. The Brazilian forward had been suffering from a hamstring injury and was left out of...

Today's fluff seemed like a good idea at the time The Mill woke this morning determined to purvey this morning's idle speculation in the form of rhyming verse. We got as far as 'The Mill woke this morn in poetical mood/Porridge and muesli are both kinds of food/Some of these couplets may not quite ring true/gossip and tit-tattle we're bringing...

Alarming news from Old Trafford. Asked about Wayne Rooney's fitness for the Champions League tie at home to Milan on Wednesday, Sir Alex Ferguson said: "The Wembley pitch has killed him, " conjuring visions of the not-so-hallowed turf's triffids doing away with England's World Cup hero designate. Fortunately, reports of Rooney's demise, like Mark Twain's, proved premature, and the knee...

A shotshy Dimitar Berbatov, why Alessandro Diamanti frustrates at West Ham and Mikel Arteta v Tim Cahill Berbatov: silky, intelligent and shotshy Wayne Rooney's absence for Manchester United meant Dimitar Berbatov played as a lone striker. While he was heavily involved in United's build-up, the Bulgarian has none of Rooney's thrust and only managed to one shot - blocked -...

• Group looking to raise £600m for takeover bid • City figures claim to have 'astonishing' support The battle for control of Manchester United is expected to intensify this week with the appointment of official banking advisers to the Red Knights, the group of City financiers who are trying to seize control of one of the world's biggest football brands....

After 19 years with United, the veteran right-back is wondering whether a career in management would be for him Gary Neville knows how the controversy industry works. "It's all noise, really. It's all fluff and noise, " he says, casting his thoughts back to the night he raised a finger to Carlos Tevez in that molten Carling Cup semi-final against...

; ; ; ;Fans fear the club's debt levels are putting its future at risk, but how likely is a bid by wealthy supporters to be successful? ; ;The takeover of Manchester United by the American Glazer family in 2005 was never popular with fans who feared their highly leveraged bid would lead the club to financial ruin and crimp...

; ; ; ;Consortium of bankers and businessmen seeking Old Trafford takeover could have to raise up to £1.5bn to complete their coup ; ;As the teams came out of the tunnel at the Molineux stadium yesterday evening for the Premier League fixture between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United, the away section was once again awash with the green and...

; ; ; ;• Support would boost Red Knights ;• Manager denies claim over buyout ; ;Senior City financiers allied to ;the wealthy consortium planning a takeover of Manchester United ; claim Sir Alex Ferguson is supporting the controversial bid. ; ;Several key sources have told the ;Observer ; that they believe that the Old Trafford manager would be prepared...

; ; ; ;Sport is following business and the public sector in taking a co-operative approach ; ;The Red Knights say if they buy Manchester United, the club's supporters trust will be centrally involved in running the club. If so, they would follow a well-trodden path. In the UK more than 160 clubs are owned by fans outright. They include...

; ; ; ;• Rooney set to miss Milan return with knee injury ;• Fábregas pulls hamstring in win over Burnley ; ;Manchester United and Arsenal may have to play their Champions League second-leg matches this week without key players Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fábregas. ; ;Rooney is expected to sit out United's home tie against Milan with a knee...

; ; ; ;Paul Scholes' 100th Premier League goal gave Manchester United a valuable three points in a hardfought victory at Molineux. The visitors were struggling to overcome the absence of their two injured strikers until one of their most reliable, if no longer prolific, goalscorers came friom midfield to take them back above Chelsea at the top of the...

; ; ; ;A classy goal from Paul Scholes, his 100th in the Premier League, put United top of the table ; ; ; ;Preamble ; Hello. So can Manchester United return to the table by ending their 28-year drought without a league victory at Molineux? In that time they have failed to win ;two whole games ;, and on...

; ; ; ;An FA Cup run with Fulham is a taste of things to come for the impressive centre-half for Manchester United ; ;Chris Smalling grew up in a household that in footballing terms was quite a battleground. His mum, Theresa, followed Tottenham. He supported Arsenal. His father, Lloyd, and younger brother Jason plumped for Manchester United. Little did...

; ; ; ;• Manager has no issue with fans' protests ;• City group value United at close to £800m ; ; ; ;The group of wealthy Manchester United fans looking to wrest the club from the Glazers today moved to play down speculation that they would pay up to £1.5bn, believing it to be worth little more than half...

; ; ; ;• Ferguson expected Rooney to withdraw from England friendly ;• Striker doubtful for Wolves game due to swollen knee ; ; ; ;Manchester United's increased reliance on Wayne Rooney after ;Michael Owen was ruled out for the season ; has led to Sir Alex Ferguson clashing with the Premier League's leading scorer. Ferguson, reeling from the news...

; ; ; ;He has played for 18 months but Old Trafford's forgotten man is keen to prove he is not an expensive mistake ; ;As Michael Owen left Wembley last Sunday he was happily oblivious that the nagging pain at the back of his leg was about to bring his season to a juddering halt. Some of the other...

; ; ; ;• Manager says 'the club is not for sale' ;• Scot has 'no problem with protest' from fans ; ;Sir Alex Ferguson has dismissed the chances of the Red Knights consortium succeeding in its attempt to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family. ; ;The United manager said: "[The chief executive] David Gill summed it up earlier...

; ; ; ;• Midfielder to play in reserve match on Thursday ;• Ferguson says Federico Macheda also near comeback ; ;Owen Hargreaves is set to make a comeback for Manchester United in a reserves match on Thursday. The England midfielder has been out of action since September 2008 with a series of knee problems. ; ;Hargreaves had operations on...

; ; ; ;• Manchester United striker aims to return in 'peak condition' ;• Sir Alex Ferguson says Wembley pitch partly to blame ; ; ;Michael Owen's first season at Manchester United has been brought to a halt in a familiar story of injury and disappointment after it emerged that the striker needs an operation and will miss the remainder...

;This week's business stories in pictures ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

The object of their ire is the Glazer family, who five years ago bought what was then the world's richest club – and have saddled it with a record debt of £716m Over the last few weeks, at match after match, Manchester United fans have been wearing green and gold, rather than the club red. The switch is the work...

Bank's chief economist under pressure over his involvement with Red Knights' bid for Manchester United Goldman Sachs is considering forcing Jim O'Neill, the bank's chief economist, to choose between his job and his involvement with the Red Knights group of financiers and businessmen, who are seeking to wrest control of Manchester United football club from the Glazer family. O'Neill is...

The economist doesn't deserve to be sent off for declaring his support for Manchester United Rule one of Goldman Sachs's business principles states: "Our clients' interests always come first." Rule two starts: "Our assets are our people." So what happens when these principles collide? We may be about to find out because Jim O'Neill, Goldman's highly regarded chief economist, has...

This may go down as a watershed moment in many football fans' increasingly fractious relationships with the people who own their clubs The intersections of American politics and English football have traditionally been on the rare side, unless you count Tony Crosland dragging Henry Kissinger to a couple of matches in 1976. The good doctor saw Grimsby Town play Gillingham,...

• Untapped millions to be made from internet, says source • Mystery surrounds Portsmouth's executive director When the Red Knight group announced its intention to bid for Manchester United the Glazer family instantly responded by saying: "The club is not for sale." Well they would say that, wouldn't they? But pause for a second and consider that perhaps United really...