Sir Alex Ferguson is prepared to rip the heart from his defence next summer and sell Nemanja Vidic to Real Madrid.
Real coach Jose Mourinho continues to eye Vidic as he looks to build a team that can wrest the Champions League crown from their great rivals Barcelona.
Ferguson understandably will not countenance letting his club captain go in the forthcoming January transfer window.
But Sportsmail understands that, remarkably, Ferguson will consider selling Vidic next summer if his old friend Mourinho comes up with enough money to enable United to buy a replacement.
With doubts over Rio Ferdinand’s long-term future at Old Trafford, selling Vidic at a time when young defenders such as Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans are still developing would appear to be a huge risk.
However, it is understood that Ferguson is no longer convinced that Vidic is 100 per cent committed to life at United and has been less than impressed with the Serb’s efforts so far this season.
Ferguson had similar doubts two years ago but Vidic managed to allay them and signed a new contract early last season.
That deal will have only two years left at the end of the season which, from one point of view, would make it the perfect time to sell.
Vidic is not agitating for a move. Despite persistent rumours about his wife being unhappy, the 30-year-old and his family have settled in the North West and have recently been trying to buy property.
But Ferguson has a history of selling important players when he feels they are no longer totally in line — and is usually proved right.
Stars such as Jaap Stam, David Beckham and Ruud van Nistelrooy were moved on when they had plenty of football left in them, but the United manager still managed to drive his team to success without them.
Vidic has played only three Barclays Premier League games this season after suffering a calf injury on the opening weekend at West Bromwich Albion. He did, however, irritate Ferguson by playing in an international for Serbia just a few days before making a disastrous return for United in the Champions League at Otelul Galati, where he was sent off.
Ferguson left his captain in the stands for the 6-1 defeat at home to Manchester City but praised him after he returned to help United keep clean sheets against Everton and Sunderland on the past two weekends.
