Ronaldo was the shining star in a Real team that now boasts of being the most expensive side ever fielded, with a combined total of £382million worth of talent

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal believes Wayne Rooney will put his ‘heart and soul’ into the club after giving him the honour of the captain’s armband.

The flowing blonde locks made Savage instantly recognisable, but he decided enough was enough and gave his locks the chop – literally

United play Valencia on Tuesday night at Old Trafford, Van Gaal’s first game at home, in their final pre-season fixture ahead of Saturday’s Premier League opener against Swansea City.

The Dutchman has overseen a perfect pre-season record in the aftermath of last season’s disastrous campaign under David Moyes that saw the club finish seventh in the league

The former Chelsea winger has become the patron of a new scholarship founded by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation at the University Camilo Jose Cela in Madrid

Webb retired from refereeing today sparking a stream of posts from Twitter users branding the officiator a ‘Manchester United legend’.

Doctors discovered in 2009 that James McCarthy, 31, from Trafford, had been living with a brain tumour the size of a fist, possibly for several years, after he suffered a fit at the wheel causing him to lose control of his car

The Dutchman has overseen a successful pre-season tour, tracking up wins against Los Angeles Galaxy, Roma, Inter Milan and Real Madrid

Salford City have been in the eighth tier of English football since the 2008/09 season, and with the takeover there is now a real feeling that they can begin to make a genuine push through the divisions

Van Gaal previously took over from Bobby Robson at Barcelona in 1997, inherited a decent squad that had just won three titles the previous season and then flourished in his first term including winning the title