"Nani looks great," the defender said. "He's sharp and strong, he has a lot of stamina and he will be an important player for our team."

MANCHESTER UNITED

1. Won the Premier League title for the first time in four seasons. They had picked up the trophy eight times in the first 11 seasons since the inception of the league.

2. Attempting to win back-to-back titles for the sixth time, having achieved it in 1956-57, 1993-94, 1996-97, 1999-2000 and in 2000-2001 (when the hat-trick of titles was also achieved).

3. The most successful club in Premier League history, having won 367 matches, scored 1,140 goals and gained 1,232 points; that's 59 more victories, 166 more goals and 151 more points that their closest rival, Arsenal.

4. This is their 33rd consecutive season in the top-flight; only Arsenal (82 seasons), Everton (54) and Liverpool (46) have been in the highest league longer.

5. Sir Alex Ferguson begins his 21st full season in charge. He is the longest serving manager of all 92 English League clubs. He is also the most successful with 27 major titles from his time in charge of both Aberdeen and United.

6. Won the title last season with 28 victories and 83 goals, in which they built the longest home winning sequence in the Premier League of 10 matches.

7. Attracted the highest average Premier League attendance of 75,821.

8. Lost the opening match of a Premier League season only three times in 15 attempts, and once in the last 11 (1-0 at Chelsea on 15 August 2004).

9. Kicking off the league campaign at Old Trafford for the third season running and bidding for a third win after defeating Everton 2-0 on 13 August 2005 and Fulham 5-1 on 20 August 2006. They went on to build a four-match winning sequence from the outset of last season's title-winning campaign.

10. Ended the last campaign with defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup final, but have already avenged that to a degree, by beating Jose Mourinho's team in last Sunday's Community Shield.