After many successes, the time is right for Nemanja Vidic to move on

[Jonathan Wilson]

When Manchester United signed Nemanja Vidic from Spartak Moscow in 2005, Sir Alex Ferguson described him with relish as "a defender who can defend." In Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown, his first-choice pairing the previous season, Ferguson had two elegant players, center-backs who read the game, made their interceptions and distributed intelligently, but he didn't have a player who radiated a force of will, who not merely handled the physical side of the game, but relished it.

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