The twitterati has gone mad in the last hour with strong rumours emerging that Serbian teenage sensation Adem Ljajic has had his Manchester United transfer cancelled by the Red Devils

The story broke at about about 2200 GMT as newspaper feeds started to hear about the situation. Ljajic, nicknamed ‘Little Kaka’ because of his playing style similarity with…erm….Kaka..was purchased last January in a double swoop by Sir Alex Ferguson for him and fellow Serb Zoran Tosic. However, it has become apparent that the manager does now not fancy Tosic and may farm him out on loan to FC Twente. He was also left out of the named Champions League squad for the group stages at the expense of Owen Hargreaves who didn’t have a kneecap to his name at the time.



"Reliable sources at The Telegraph and The Independent are reporting that after monitoring the progress of young Ljajic over the past twelve months they do not feel he is worth the £10 million agreed for the player as they feel they have equivalent talent at the club. This may have something to do with the signing of Gabriel Obertan, who was signed for a relatively small fee of £3 million last summer and has impressed greatly since his recent debut.

Dragan Djuric, the president of Ljajic’s current club Partizan, has been quoted as saying he feels that United have a problem servicing their massive £700 million debt that hangs over the club and that this is the reason for the death of the deal. However the club have moved swiftly to quash this by stating that it is a simple fact that they do not feel the player is better than anything they currently own and that there is no cash flow problem. An opt-out clause was entered on the signing of Tosic for the deal to be legally cancelled if it was felt that United wanted to do so, and it now appears that the club have activated this right.

A United spokesperson said: “We had an option to buy the player but, having closely monitored his development over the past 12 months, and taken into consideration the young players emerging through the ranks at the club, we have not chosen to pursue the transfer.”

Ljajic has been on a programme for the past year to ready him for the rigours of English football, with United initiating and monitoring alot of this. He also recently spent time at the Carrington complex to train with the first team, with Sir Alex being directly quoted as being excited about unleashing his latest find on the Premier League. So it seems more than a little strange that United have backed out of the deal. Does it mean that a new target has emerged and that Ferguson wants to throw his cash at that? It wouldn’t surprise me. It is common knowledge that he has taken a shine to Wolfsburg hitman Dzeko, who scored against United in the Champions League this season.

It will be of great disappointment to us United fans that we will probably not see Ljajic in a United shirt now, especially as many thought he would tread the same development plan that Ronaldo did.