No show from Vidic as United head off on tour

Manchester United skipper Nemanja Vidic is a surprise absentee from the club’s pre-season touring squad.

As anticipated, Robin van Persie and David de Gea both miss Saturday’s opener in Bangkok after being given additional time off following their summer international commitments, although they are due to join up in Sydney.

And, just as David Moyes predicted, injury victims Chris Smalling (foot), Ashley Young (ankle) and Nani (broken nose) were also missing due to injury.

However, Vidic’s non-appearance was not expected and there was no immediate explanation from the club.

There was no hint of any problem on Friday when Vidic attended the official unveiling of David Moyes as Alex Ferguson’s successor.

And while his absence may be connected to the treatment received by the Serbian on the chronic knee injury that ruled him out for virtually 12 months, any fresh problem would be a concern.

In addition to Van Persie and De Gea, Shinji Kagawa will also be a late arrival, linking up with his team-mates in Japan on July 21 after a rest following his country’s Confederations Cup campaign.

Wayne Rooney is there, however, though it appears there have been no further developments on his future, with Moyes virtually repeating what he said at Old Trafford last Friday, when he insisted the 27-year-old would not be sold without confirming that is the striker’s wish.

“The club have already stated Wayne is not for sale,” said Moyes.

“I have met Wayne two, three, four times. A lot has been said about myself and Wayne over the years but we have a really good relationship.

“He came to my house, I have been to his recently to have a chat. Also he is here every day.

“I will say he is training great. They are telling me it is the best shape they have seen him in for a long time.

“From that point of view I am taking it as a positive and I am going to try and get the best Wayne Rooney I very possibly can.”

Also selected is new-boy Wilfried Zaha, who only began training on Monday following his European Under-21 campaign with England.

“He has only been with us for two days but I will take him away, see how he goes and have a look,” said Moyes of the player who was signed from Crystal Palace last January, then immediately loaned back.

“This club has a great record of putting young players in the team. Hopefully Wilfried can be one of them.”

Meanwhile, Manchester United yesterday launched their official Twitter feed with the message “New era, same spirit.”

The club, using the handle @ManUtd, amassed 285,000 followers in the first nine hours with the first message posted at 8:30am reading: “New era, same spirit. The season starts here. Let’s do this.”

The Premier League club already has a strong presence on social media site Facebook with 34 million people having “liked” the official club page.

Manchester United have a way to go to match Real Madrid and Barcelona, who have 8.1m and 9.4m Twitter followers respectively.

However, the Red Devils’ arrival on the micro-blogging site has been welcomed by the online community.

Former United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel said: “@ManUtd on twitter it’s like Christmas.”