FIRST OF JANUARY

Super Serb Vidic is still the pick of new year business

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MANCHESTER UNITED fans woke on Christmas morning in 2005 expecting to unwrap the normal mix of Lynx giftsets, selection boxes and socks.

But what they actually got was a 6ft 3in central defender from Spartak Moscow by the name of Nemanja Vidic.

Bosses at Old Trafford were so eager to get the deal over the line and fend off competition from across Europe that they dragged staff away from their pigs in blankets in order to complete the £7m transfer.

It was officially announced in the new year and boss Alex Ferguson said: “Good defenders win you things.”

How right he was. Vidic turned out to be arguably the greatest January signing in Premier League history.

He quickly formed one of the most formidable defensive partnerships of recent times with Rio Ferdinand and within two months he had his first piece of silverware, the 2006 League Cup.