Talk comes at right price for Vidic

Uefa Champions League:Alex Ferguson has felt sufficiently emboldened lately to predict his Manchester United side are better equipped to return the Champions League to Old Trafford than at any stage since they won the competition in 1999 and, having eased through their qualifying round, his players struck a similar chord of optimism yesterday.

"Talk is cheap" is a popular saying among the United players but they are entitled to be confident in their free-scoring mood and Nemanja Vidic spoke for the squad when he described them as "much stronger than last season".

Vidic, who previously earned only a third of the salary of his defensive partner Rio Ferdinand, signed a new contract with vastly improved terms yesterday to align himself with the club until at least 2012 and the Serbian centre half, who finished Wednesday's 4-0 defeat of Dynamo Kiev wearing the captain's armband, marked the occasion by backing Ferguson's claims that the Premier League champions were capable of re-establishing themselves as Europe's dominant club.

"Playing in this team is a great privilege," he said. "I'm delighted to be able to extend my stay and I hope I can now do my bit to help us win more trophies. I certainly believe that can happen because the way we are playing at the moment we are a danger to everyone. We may need a bit of luck along the way but we must believe we can win the European Cup. We have top-quality players in attack and the feeling in defence is that we can always keep a clean sheet. We don't lose too many goals and this is the way we need to play in the future if we want to win this trophy."

United have qualified from Group F with a record of four straight wins and, in all competitions, they have scored 22 goals in their last six games. They reached the semi-finals last season and Ferguson, increasingly impatient eight years after his one European triumph, challenged them earlier this week not to be "nearly men."

"We have a bigger squad than last season and more good players and because of that you have to say we are stronger than last season," Vidic continued. "As I say, sometimes you need a bit of luck as well. Milan didn't play particularly well last season but won the Champions League and there is a pattern of teams winning the competition when they are not going for their domestic league. But we're feeling confident about every match."

Vidic's own form has been pivotal to United producing their best football and Ferguson made no attempt to conceal his delight after the defender had signed his new deal. "Nemanja has made a terrific impact at the club and has formed a partnership with Rio that was a major part in us winning the title last year," he said. "He is an extremely popular member of the squad and it's great news that he wants to be part of this exciting side."

United are speaking to several other players about extending their deals, notably Ryan Giggs, Wes Brown and Patrice Evra, and Ferguson is confident of concluding all the deals this winter.

He said this week he has no intention of letting the Spanish under-21 central defender Gerard Pique leave United. Pique spent last season on loan at Real Zaragoza and the La Liga club made a big offer to sign the player, who is a product of the Barcelona academy. But Ferguson, who declined the bid, said: "I am not surprised people are saying they are interested in him. Zaragoza tried to buy him in the summer. They offered a lot of money. But the boy's future is here. I have no fears for him. The course we have set is a good one and there is absolutely no intention of letting him go."

Pique's frustration at his failure to break into the first team at United, with Vidic and Ferdinand in commanding form, has been exacerbated by the progress made by Cesc Fabregas, another acquisition from Barcelona's youth ranks, at Arsenal.

Ferguson continued: "Because he came through the youth system at Barcelona with Fabregas, who got into the Arsenal team at a much younger age, we had to impress on Gerard his physique was nothing like that of Fabregas. Being a centre half, he needed time to strengthen and get more experience as a defender. That was what his loan spell at Zaragoza was about. He got more experience and he became a lot stronger." He added: "He is going to have to wait a bit but waiting is not a problem for a 20-year-old."

Pique will find himself back on the bench at best on Sunday when United play Blackburn.