Scholes signs on for another year. Rooney’s fit to play.

Today’s press conference at Carrington has certainly caused a few headlines. Here are the most important talking points and my take on them:

Owen Hargreaves to be in squad for tomorrow Wayne, Rio & Ryan are doubtful

Wayne Rooney’s fitness has been in the headlines since he got injured and Manchester fans of both the blue and red persuasion are monitoring his recovery keenly. Sir Alex told the attending journalists: “Wayne has done some work in the last couple of days and we’re going to assess how he does today [in training] to see how he is for Saturday’s game.

“The big problem is that all the players want to play. But we have to be 100 per cent sure that Wayne is ready.”

Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs are doubtful for tomorrow’s derby, but will be given late fitness tests. “The same applies for Ryan and Rio, although they are both behind Wayne in terms of the work they have done.

“Picking up injuries in last Sunday’s game is a problem in terms of recovery time, but at least they have done some jogging. I have to consider them if they manage to do something today (Friday). But it’s up in the air at the moment.”

On a more positive note, Owen Hargreaves will be making the short trip across town after training well on Thursday, while John O’Shea has shaken off a slight knock he picked up last Sunday. “I think with John it was just tiredness after his first start in quite a while. Other than that everyone is fit.”

- I fully expect to see Wayne Rooney start this match and he will have a big effect on proceedings. Expect a much improved showing from Sunday’s mundane draw.

It’s great to see Owen Hargreaves included in an 18-man squad again, even if he’s only going to be on the subs bench. It will be a psychological boost for him – another step on the long road to recovery. I don’t expect him to be brought on unless injuries necessitate it. It’s going to be a feisty match and Hargo has only played 45 minutes of a reserves match, so playing him tomorrow would be an unnecessary risk and exposing to a level of fitness he’s not ready for.

Scholes extends stay

Following the press conference this morning, it was also announced that Paul Scholes has put pen to paper on a contract extension that will see him stay on at Manchester United until June 2011.

Sir Alex commented: “We are delighted Paul is staying on for another year.

“His form this year indicates his ability and his enjoyment of the game are as strong as ever, and that’s every reason to stay on.

“There was talk about him wanting to retire, but when you see his enjoyment in training and playing, you can see how much he wants to carry on.”

Scholes said: “I am pleased to have signed for another year. I am feeling good and enjoying my football.

“I would like to thank the boss, the coaching staff and also the fans for their continued support.”

- I have mixed feelings on this. With both Anderson and Carrick performing below par this season, Scholes has performed decently, but didn’t reach the levels he once was so capable of. I see the benefits of having Scholes in the squad for another season, but hope that Sir Alex has seen enough this season to give young midfielders more minutes and to sign another midfielder.

Which brings us to our next point from the press conference:

Fergie plans summer signings

“From our point of view, we have a good structure. We may need to tweak here and there – a player here, maybe a player there,” the boss said on Friday.

“We tend to like buying young players and to build them up within the club. We’ve been good at that over the years. We won’t change that, that’s the reason we signed Hernandez from Mexico. We may buy another player this summer, maybe two at the very most, because that’s where we are, our structure is good. We may look at one or two things, but nothing serious.”

“If we were to prioritise a player, I doubt City would be going for that player as well,” he said. “They are maybe after a different type of player, but I don’t know what they are up to or what their plans are. Nobody knows, but they have a buying power that is different from most other clubs.

“The important thing is not to confuse ourselves with other clubs who have so much buying power. That’s just a fact. We don’t really need to worry about that. It was the same when Chelsea were buying players, we didn’t bother ourselves with that. What we tried to do is look at ourselves and see how we can develop our team. And we proved to be successful at it.”

- To me, this translates to: “We’ don’t have money to spend on big-name signings who are going to cost a fortune. United are going to buy young players with the potential to become big name stars.”

The past few matches have been worrying, but then again, with a slice of luck, we could be top of the table and in the semi-finals of the Chamions League, so wholesale changes are not necessary.

With Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez already signed up for next season, I expect Fergie to sign a central midfielder and maybe a player who can play both as a left winger or striker.  James Milner and Karim Benzema would fit these two roles perfectly.

I wonder how much Fergie wishes he had the 30 million which were spent on Dimitar Berbatov.

Wayne not going to Spain!

When asked about recent stories from the rumour mills about a possible 90million pounds transfer of Wayne Rooney to Real Madrid, Sir Alex dismissed the stories, by saying:
“Well, this is the silly season, isn’t it? Wayne will be here next year.”

- That’s probably the most satisfying bit.

Not that I was too worried anyway, because Wazza has already said he doesn’t want to go anywhere, unlike Ronaldo’s vague “Only God knows the future” comments.

So in summary, it’s several pieces of good positive news ahead of tomorrow’s vital clash, which has lifted my spirits and will probably have had the same effect on other fans and also the players.

Bring on City!