Di Maria will regret United failure - Ferdinand

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes Paris Saint-Germain-bound winger Angel di Maria will regret his failure at Old Trafford.

Di Maria is on the brink of joining PSG after he was pictured in Doha ahead of his reported medical in the Qatari capital on Monday.

The Argentina international's imminent switch to the French champions comes just 12 months on from his record £59.7million move to Manchester, where he failed to settle despite enjoying a bright start to life at Old Trafford.

Ferdinand, who won six Premier League titles with United, said Di Maria's reputation has been tarnished forever.

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"He will now always have on his CV that he was a failure at Man United," Ferdinand told ESPN FC at a BT Sport media event.

"As a professional, I wouldn't want something like that on my record. If I could rectify it by staying and trying to prove myself, I would have done that.

"As a fan, I would have liked for him to stay there and prove he can perform for Man United. That is what we all wanted to see when the club paid so much for him last summer, but that isn't happening, it seems.

"I can understand why some fans are disappointed that he is leaving so soon, but this is a business. United may have looked at it this summer and [manager Louis] van Gaal has probably come to the conclusion that he doesn't fit into his system for whatever reason. At that point, you have to cash in."

Manchester United set for Gareth Bale transfer

Manchester United has rekindled their interest in Real Madrid's Gareth Bale, according to reports in Spain.

United are willing to offer close to $125 million euros (£87.5m) to secure the services of the winger; however Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez remains confident the Welshman is going nowhere.

Bale has often been seen as the scapegoat among the Bernabeu faithful, enduring a disappointing second season with the club.

But his manager has come to his aid, backing Bale to go on and have a big season with Madrid.

"Gareth is a huge player for us and I know that he's happy," Benitez told a press conference when asked about Bale's future.

"I'm not going to talk about offers. Everything is well and he's going to have a good season with us I'm sure."

Adding to reports from Spain, the Sun believes that the Red Devils have already seen two offers for Bale turned away this off-season.

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David de Gea has been strongly linked to Real Madrid (AAP)

Benitez shut down suggestions Real Madrid would package an offer of Bale for United's goalkeeper David de Gea, who has been heavily in the spotlight this transfer window.

"I've said in five previous press conferences that I don't want to talk about players who are in other teams."

"We have three very good keepers. I can talk about them, not other goalkeepers."

De Gea has one season left on his contract with United, and it's rumoured that Madrid would be happy to land him on a free once his deal expires.

Man United open the new Premier League season at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

Confident Oxlade-Chamberlain hits back at Keane

Arsenal attacker Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain insisted his side can challenge for the Premier League as he hit back at Roy Keane.

Former Manchester United captain Keane had suggested Arsene Wenger's team were "more interested in selfies and six-packs", before Oxlade-Chamberlain fired them to a 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, 21, dismissed the criticism and said Arsenal were ready to push for their first league title since 2003-04.

"It's a new era, isn’t it? Some people do it, some don’t," the England international said when asked about Keane's comments.

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"We’re serious about winning trophies. Personally, and I can speak for the rest of the squad, we’ve been serious every single year I’ve been at the club about winning trophies.

"You can see that on the pitch. A lot of people don’t see when we lose and go through tough times how upset and disappointed we are. We’ve always wanted to win trophies and in the last years we’ve won a few. This season we want to go that one better."

Oxlade-Chamberlain feels he has never been part of an Arsenal squad with so much confidence and believes his team proved a point against Chelsea.

The 20-time England international, who has been at the club since 2011, said his side's approach to big games had been a worry.

"Ever since I’ve been at Arsenal, we’ve had numerous quality players and the whole squad had been very strong," Oxlade-Chamberlain said.

"It just seemed that in the big games we came up short sometimes and you wonder why.

"The mentality going into those games was definitely a big thing. Since I’ve been here we’ve steadily got better at that, especially last year.

"A game like that against Chelsea is always important because they are a good side and it’s great to come away with some silverware."

Higuain rejects Napoli extension

Gonzalo Higuain's agent has revealed the striker has rejected the offer of a new contract from Napoli.

The Argentina international - who signed for the Serie A club from Real Madrid in 2013 - still has three years left to run on his current deal.

Nicolas Higuain, the player's brother and agent, confirmed that a one-year extension on similar terms had been turned down, with the player "happy to continue with the current conditions".

"We had a meeting with the president [Aurelio De Laurentiis] in Venice 10 days ago," he told Radio CRC.

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"We talked about everything. He offered a one-year contract extension, however, in my opinion - and in our opinion - we'll continue with the original contract, expiring in 2018.

"I don't think we'll accept the president's offer, because the contract isn't that different to the one we signed before, so for us it's not a real offer. We're calm and happy to continue with the current conditions."

The striker has been linked with a move away from Napoli this off-season, though his sibling insisted no "big clubs" had contacted him to discuss any potential transfer.

"It seems strange, but the big clubs have not contacted me, nor have I spoken with anyone," Nicolas Higuain added.

"At the moment we have faith Gonzalo will stay at Napoli, in a team which is 100 per cent focused and can win something."

Congo fans hold Le Roy hostage

Nigeria’s U- 23 national team popularly known as Dream Team VI qualified for the Africa U-23 Championship that would produce Africa’s three automatic representatives in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil after playing a goalless draw with the host team Congo yesterday.

But as the Congo fans celebrated the Nigerian team and hailed them for their wonderful display in Pointe Noire, their coach Claude Le Roy was almost manhandled but was rescued by the security personnel at the Stadium.

The host fans, SportingLife gathered, were angered that despite giving their team over 100 percent support the team still failed to secure a 1-0 victory that could have fetched them victory and qualification ticket of the African U- 23 Championship.

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Congo fans shortly after the end of the game held Le Roy hostage and it took the intervention of the security agents to save him back to the dressing room. The fans then hailed the Nigerian team until they left the pitch.

Veteran sports journalist and member of the NFF Technical Committee  Mr. Paul Bassey led the NFF and theteam officials in praise and worship in the team’s bus until they got to their hostel. Deputy General Secretary Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme, the Chairman NFF Technical Committee Chief Felix Anyansi Agu and team’s Chief Coach Samson Siasia and the rest of the technical crew also joined in singing praises to Almighty God that made victory possible for the team.

Siasia told SportingLife shortly aftet the match that his boys played to instruction and was proud of them.

“I am very proud of these boys because they took the fight to the Congolese and played to instruction. They were determined which showed in their game and could have scored. But we must savour this victory for now and we thank God for this victory,” he said.

I' m not among world's best - Luiz Suarez

Barcelona star Luis Suarez insists he does not consider himself among the world's best players despite his performances in recent seasons.

The controversial Uruguayan scored 25 goals in all competitions for Barca last season, following on from prolific campaigns at Liverpool.

But he is unfazed by where he stands among the world's best players.

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"One always tries to accept praise and the things fans say, but I don't consider myself the most humble nor one of the best," Suarez told ESPN FC.

"I just try and do my work the best I can. I'm in the best team in the world and doing things I never imagined doing, but that job I leave to the rest so they can give their opinion."

With Lionel Messi and Neymar, Suarez helped form a devastating Barca attack that won the treble in 2014-15.

The 28-year-old said he had to maintain a good level to keep up with his fellow stars.

"You're in Barcelona and you have Leo and Neymar by your side so you have to be one of the best," Suarez said.

"I have the privilege to play with those quality players, just as much them as the whole team, including [Andres] Iniesta, which was a dream for me to play by his side, with players that I enjoy playing alongside.

"Being on the best team in the world fills you with pride, leaves you calm, shows you how hard it is to get here. And that's why you have to enjoy the moment once you're here."

Wolsburg crowned DFL-Super cup champions

Wolfsburg were crowned DFL-Supercup champions on Saturday as Nicklas Bendtner levelled late on before scoring the winning penalty at the Volkswagen Arena.

Bendtner - who has struggled to establish himself with the DFB-Pokal holders - made his case for a starting berth with a well-taken equaliser followed by the crucial spot-kick amid a dramatic finale as Wolfsburg were 5-4 victors in the shootout.

Arjen Robben - featuring for the German champions for the first time since April after a muscular injury - had given Bayern the lead early in the second half following an action-packed opening period in which both sides spurned opportunities.

For much of the second it seemed a lack of cutting edge would haunt Wolfsburg - who named Kevin De Bruyne in their XI following injury concerns.

However, substitute Bendtner was on hand to convert the Belgian's pinpoint cross following a sweeping counter-attack down the right to take Bayern to penalties.

Debutant Arturo Vidal got Bayern off to a good start in the shootout, but team-mate Xabi Alonso was the only one not to score - Wolfsburg's reserve goalkeeper Koen Casteels saving well with his left foot in Diego Benaglio's injury-enforced absence.

It allowed Bendtner to convert the winning penalty and give Dieter Hecking's men a confidence boost as they seek to run Bayern closer in the Bundesliga this term.

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Bayern handed a competitive debut to Douglas Costa and the Brazilian showed electric pace early on to set up a sight on goal for Alonso.

The Spaniard sent a scruffy shot wide, but Bayern continued to threaten, Jerome Boateng rattling the crossbar after Thiago Alcantara's header fell to him inside the penalty area.

Vieirinha - given a torrid time by Costa early on - asked questions of his own at the other end when he blasted Wolfsburg's first effort narrowly off target from distance.

Costa wasted a great opportunity when he passed to Robert Lewandowski instead of shooting when through on goal and, as the chances flowed, Manuel Neuer was required to keep out a wicked deflection off Medhi Benatia.

The final chance of a gripping half fell to De Bruyne - the in-demand Belgian shooting wide with an open goal at his mercy after Neuer and Benatia made a mess of clearing a bouncing ball.

Somehow, the sides were level at the break, but Bayern needed just four minutes of the second half to take the lead, Robben snaffling up his chance after Lewandowski's close-range effort was spilled by Casteels.

The energetic Costa was again pivotal down the left and, while Wolfsburg continued to threaten, Bas Dost latched onto De Bruyne's incisive pass only to shoot straight at Neuer.

Eventually, Wolfsburg were rewarded one minute from time when Bendtner converted De Bruyne's cross and his evening got better when he sealed the win.

Alonso's saved penalty proved costly as Bendtner followed Ricardo Rodriguez, De Bruyne, Andre Schurrle and Max Kruse in beating Neuer to ensure Wolfsburg's first Supercup success.