Anderson scored the penalty which won Manchester United the Champions League in 2008. But the talented midfielder has seen opportunities limited of late and looks set for new pastures.

This after Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson reportedly prepared to offload Dimitar Berbatov and Anderson to fund the signing of Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema .
Manchester United manager is willing to sell Anderson, who has earned covetous glances from French giants Lyon and Paris St Germain.

He was very close to a move in the January transfer window, but it seems that the time has come for him to prove his qualities at another club.

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Manchester United will offer attacking midfielder Anderson plus €10 million for Benfica winger Angel di Maria, according to news daily Record.

The Argentina international has long been on the radar of United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who is believed to face competition from other Premier League sides, as well as La Liga clubs, for the 22-year-old's signature.

This is the second time this season that Ferguson plots a move for Di Maria after the Scottish gaffer failed to land him in December after reportedly offering Benfica €10 million and the services of Nani.

Anderson, who joined Manchester United from FC Porto in 2007, has been strongly linked with an Old Trafford exit after an alleged bust-up with his manager and a knee injury which restricted him to just 14 league appearances.

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Sir Alex Ferguson has already got the replacewments for ageing veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes at Manchester United - in the form of Anderson adn Luis Nani.

Anderson was one of those players who started out brightly for his club, but then faded away. His first two seasons for United were fantastic. He was truly seen as the future of Manchester's midfield.

However, his star soon faded. Anderson lost his form and played poorly for the first part of the 2009-10 season. Then he was hit by a devastating injury that has kept him out for six months.

Despite Anderson's bad form at the beginning of this season, he has the ability to rebound from it. Anderson has shown that he has talent and ability—he can tackle and do the dirty work, he has great vision and can make defense-splitting passes, and he has a great outside shot.

However, he needs to improve on his consistency.

Like Anderson, Nani played poorly at the beginning of the season, but has since shown glimpses of his true talent. Anderson just needs to settle down and settle things with Sir Alex; then he can start enjoying his football.

Sir Alex Ferguson's increasingly fractious relationship with Anderson has left the Brazilian contemplating his future at Old Trafford and fearing that the repercussions will involve missing out on this summer's World Cup.

Anderson has not started a game since being singled out for criticism by Ferguson in an angry dressing-room exchange after the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester City on 19 ­January. He was dropped from the following game, against Hull City, and responded by flying to Brazil without the club's permission and, in the process, having a meeting with an official from the Rio de Janeiro club Vasco da Gama.

An angry Ferguson has responded by freezing him out of United's last seven games and Anderson was even made to suffer the indignity of not being included on the trip to Italy last week for the first leg of the Champions League tie against Milan. It is understood he has been fined and, though he did not confirm that as he spoke for the first time about the breakdown in his relations with Ferguson, he admitted that he was not optimistic about returning to his club side for tonight's game against West Ham or his national team for the World Cup.

"The conversations with Ferguson are private but I have explained my situation," he said. "I went to Brazil to think about my future and not to negotiate with other clubs. One of my dreams this season is to make the Brazil squad for the World Cup but the fact is that if I do not play for United then [the national coach] Dunga is not going to be interested in me. This is very hard for me because I need minutes on the field during the coming matches. I always had a good relation with Ferguson. He has asked me for more effort and I accept that, but I need more chances to play in the first team."

Anderson's chances of getting to the World Cup aren't looking great on the sports betting markets.

Anderson insists he feels at 'home' at Manchester United and remains determined to increase his goals tally for the club.

The Brazilian midfielder is in his third season at Old Trafford, but has endured a mixed opening to the new campaign.

"I feel happy here," said Anderson. "Everybody has times that are not the best, but I am at home here. I have been at Manchester United for three years. Everyone at the club is nice to me. It is like a family."

"Hopefully I will have more chances in the future and I can score lots more for Manchester United."

Anderson also admits he remains 'great friends' with departed duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, but is confident United are coping without the attacking stars.

"Ronaldo is still a big friend of mine. Wherever he and Tevez are, nothing will change. We are great friends," said Anderson. "They were both very important players for this club. However, this often happens in football and the club has to move on. We still have great players here like Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Nani. Now we also have Antonio Valencia.

Manchester United have opened talks with Gremio to sign Brazilian youngster Douglas Costa, according to various reports.

The highly rated 18-year-old has become a target for Sir Alex Ferguson since the announcement that Cristiano Ronaldo will be leaving Old Trafford for Real Madrid.

Reports suggest Costa has a £21m release clause in his contract, although United hope to bring that figure down.

Costa's agent Cesar Bottega said yesterday: "There have been informal conversations and I believe United would match those values"

Manchester United's midfield trio of Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Anderson all battled through the opening leg of the club's Champions League semi-final win over Arsenal six days ago but were rested for the clash with Middlesbrough last weekend. They will presumably start again on Tuesday evening, when United visit Ashburton Grove.

Regarding the tie, Ferguson singled out Anderson for specific praise and outlined the sort of role that he envisages the player fulfilling in future years.

"The midfield worked so hard against Arsenal in the first leg, we decided to rest the three of them," Ferguson told the club's official website. "We put Anderson on the bench because he’s not had as much football as Michael and Darren. But they’ve had a rest and they’ll be fresh for Tuesday if I decide to play them all."

On whose game he believes Anderson would be wise to learn off in order to grow in his most natural position, Ferguson said, "I think he is going to replace Paul Scholes, that’s my opinion. I think he’s an outstanding talent; he's got fantastic speed and strength.

"He’s still only 21. In the second half [against Arsenal], he was starting to be too positive, so we brought Giggs into midfield to give us more experience."

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