Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has denied launching a scathing attack on English life and the weather in Manchester.

Vidic gave an interview to a Russian football magazine in which he bemoaned the lack of options for a social life in England and claimed he would like to move to Spain in the future because Manchester’s weather is so bad.

The Serbia central defender was reported to have said: “In England people don’t have time to feel the joy of life. Throughout the week they work so hard. They only talk to people at lunch.

“Then in the evening they watch TV so they can get up early for work the next day.

“In Manchester the main attraction is a timetable at the railway station where trains leave for less rainy cities!”

But, although Vidic admitted that he did talk about the difficulties he had settling in England after his move from Spartak Moscow, he insisted he had been misquoted.

“I’d like to clarify that I did not make these particular remarks. I spoke about the difficulty I had settling in to life in Manchester, but that does not reflect how I feel now,” he told United’s official website.

“I enjoy my life very much as a footballer at Manchester United and I’m very happy to be a part of this great club. I think I show that in the way I play every week.

“I also have far too much respect for the people of Manchester, and England, to criticise them in this way.

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© 2008 AFP