Fletcher has been suffering from ulcerative colitis for some time which has lead to long periods on the sidelines.

The club’s medical staff have advised that he takes time out from playing to give him the best “chance possible of achieving full remission once again.”

Get well soon, Fletch.

What is ulcerative colitis?

Ulcerative colitis is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that affects the lining of the large intestine (colon) and rectum.

The cause of ulcerative colitis is unknown. People with this condition have problems with the immune system, but it is not clear whether immune problems cause this illness.

About half of patients with ulcerative colitis have mild symptoms. Patients with more severe ulcerative colitis tend to respond less well to medications.

Permanent and complete control of symptoms with medications is unusual. Cure is only possible through complete removal of the large intestine. The risk of colon cancer increases in each decade after ulcerative colitis is diagnosed.

“It doesn’t get much bigger than this,” said Fletcher. “This club needs to qualify for the Champions League, so we know we have to get a positive result. They are going to come at us because they have to win the game and we’re fully aware of that. We are under no illusions as to what we have to do. We need a positive result and we’ll be going to win the game because you never know what Benfica will do in the other game. We fully expect them to win, but you never know, so it’s important we win the match. If we do that we might get a little favour with Benfica not winning, in which case we win the group. But if not, we will finish second – the most important thing now is getting through. You want to be through by this stage and you want to be in pole position to win the group. Unfortunately, we are not in that position and so you look back to the two home draws with Basel and Benfica. If you don’t win your home games in the Champions League then it’s never going to be as easy as you’d like.”

“The time has flown since my debut and I’ve enjoyed everything about playing for Manchester United,” he said. “It’s all I’ve ever known and it’s become my home. It’s an achievement I want to build on. The next target has to be 350, then 400 and so on – you always want to keep going.”

His recovery from the virus hasn’t been smooth though, with the midfielder having a set back and missing further games this season. However, the International break came at the right time for him, with him getting a couple of games under his belt to aid his match fitness.

Fletcher’s form has been suspect this season and he still looks underweight, but the Scottish midfielder claims he feels fine now.

“I feel fine. I knew I would be,” said Fletcher. “My natural fitness is always very good. I never had a problem with that, and I worked hard with the fitness coaches whilst the rest of the lads were away on tour. I reached my level fairly quickly, then it was a question of matches because the more you play, the more you get your sharpness back and awareness back. I was lucky in the respect I was able to get a few games for Scotland before I played for United, which definitely helped me. I have played 10 games so far this season and I feel as though I am back to the level I should be at.”

Now that we’ve had a few days to digest our implosion against Manchester City, the only thing to do now is move on. It’s confined to the history books, forget it. Nothing can be changed now. The only thing that can be done is correcting it in the future. Starting on Saturday when we kick-off at noon away to Everton.

Darren Fletcher has enjoyed scoring against Everton in the past

Although the hurt of the humiliating defeat will take an age to go away, the bright side ensures we’ve plenty of football to keep ourselves occupied in the immediate future. Despite us struggling at Goodison Park in recent seasons, particularly last season when we inexplicably gave up a two-goal lead in injury-time, some things are finally falling our way.

The comeback of Tom Cleverley against Aldershot in the Carling Cup is a massive boost to the entire squad but especially in midfield as we have lacked cohesion and confidence during his absence. Nemanja Vidic’s return from injury is also well-timed as the Serb hopes to help our recently leaky defence.

However, equally as important will be the shape which Everton are heading into Saturday’s encounter with. After their heart-breaking extra-time loss to Chelsea, David Moyes’ charges will be fatigued after their lengthy excursions. Also, having lost four of their last five matchss, they can hardly be highy confident facing the prospect of a wounded animal in the form of the champions of England looking to bounce back from the mother of all losses.

In recent season, we have seldom picked up three points from the Blue half of Merseyside. But that could and should be about to change on Saturday as the return of key players, coupled with our opponents dire recent form bodes well and a win is well within our reach is we approach the match professionally.

On their return from Goodison Park, United is going to host Otelul Galati for some Champions League action, watch Clarence Seedorf, Gianluigi Buffon, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Patrick Viera recreate some of the historic moments of the competition:

This message was brought to you by Heineken, sponsors of the UEFA Champions League, but it contains our writer’s opinion.

“We don’t want to give City the confidence of winning trophies to get to our level,” Fletcher said. “Our job is to keep Manchester United on top and as long as we keep on winning the big titles, it means they’re not winning them. If City were to go on a run of winning a lot of trophies, then they would become a global club. But for world recognition, United stands out alone. The great thing about United is the history of the club. No-one can take away the Busby Babes, the Munich tragedy – all of these things are engrained in the club’s history. United are known all around the world for its history and success, which is what makes it so strong and such a special club. Teams like Chelsea have won trophies and built on that success, but that’s been maybe over a 10-year period. They still don’t have the global appeal and size of Manchester United and that’s how we want it to stay.”

Kenny Miller opened the scoring for Scotland thanks to an assist from captain Darren Fletcher.

Fletch then put Scotland 2-1 up with just over five minutes left to play, before a 90th pen for the Czech Republic.

Despite not having played for United yet this season, he has been called up to the Scottish team to face the Czech Republic and Lithuania. However, our midfielder claims his inclusion shouldn’t be viewed as a risk.

“Not at all because of the experience I have at this level,” said Fletcher. “I have 53 caps so I know what to expect at this level. I’m the captain – I feel I bring a lot to the team in terms of communication. I feel as fit as I ever have, I feel strong. Players have had one or two more matches than me but I don’t believe that’s a problem.”

All Manchester United fans no doubt remember a phrase from last season that has almost become one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s most famous phrases – “there’s no value in the transfer market”. It’s just as hard to understand it then as it is now, there has never really been any value in the transfer market. It’s unpredictable and prone to ballooning at anytime.

It’s also hard to take it too seriously when you consider some of the transfers in football that United have missed out on. Shinji Kagawa moved to Dortmund for what was an incredible bargain. As well as that in the past 4 or 5 years the transfer fees of Rafael van der Vaart, João Moutinho, Mesut Özil, Javier Pastore, Nuri Şahin, and even Wesley Sneidjer. All centre midfielders, all of which are arguably Manchester United quality, and of which went for under £15,000,000.

Since the signings of Owen Hargreaves and Anderson in the early summer of 2007, there has been little in the way of central midfield reinforcements. In January 2008, Rodrigo Possebon signed for the club and looked promising but seemed to lack confidence after his injury and his disastrous loan spell in Braga. Possebon was sold to Santos in August 2009. Darron Gibson made his league debut for the club in November 2008, and it’s now looking likely he will be on the way out to Sunderland. In October 2009, there was the signing of Paul Pogba, which may be an inspired signing, should he develop like many expect him too.

Those are the only central midfield signings since and it is a massive lack of investment when you consider the money spent on other areas of the pitch. So, despite Manchester United now looking likely to invest heavily this summer after a transition season, it’s fortunate that unlike other teams, United are able to win the league whilst reinventing again.

It’s not then, beyond the realm of impossibility, that perhaps the midfield is missed out completely again this summer. Even with the obvious reinvestment of Phil Jones, and very probably David de Gea and Ashley Young. The manager did say back in May that there would be 3 new signings; perhaps that’s our fill of transfer activity then? It’s unlikely, as there is looking like there will still be plenty of cash to spend with players that maybe on their way out, there’s Darron Gibson, Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Nani, and Dimitar Berbatov – depending on what you read.

Should United fail to secure a new midfielder (and presumably don’t sell any) then the only options available would be: Anderson, Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Darron Gibson, Ryan Tunnicliffe, and Paul Pogba.

A virus ruined Darren Fletcher’s 2010-2011 campaign, and it was apparent that when he did recover that he had lost a lot of weight, which limited his opportunities. Even before his mystery virus, Fletcher had not replicated the kind of form he displayed from 2008-2010 that made him indispensible to the team, and a huge loss in the 2009 Champions League final. Given he recovers back to his former self, Fletcher can still be an important part of United’s midfield.

Ryan Giggs will be 38 in November, which is frankly, ridiculous – in a good way. Although it has been said for the past 4 years or so, this time it may actually be his last season. Of course, Giggs will be getting attention off the fans next year, after becoming a Daily Star selling machine – with apparent sex stories become more bizarre and abstract. The entire thing is tedious for real football fans, but it will be ammunition for opposition fans. I’d wager that someone as professional as Giggs would remain entirely unaffected by all the extra attention. We can perhaps hope for more of the same from Giggsy next year.

Anderson is a strange one, he is undoubtedly talented but there is still the sense that he could become so much more. When he does pick up good form, he usually been stopped by another injury or falling out of favour of the squad rotation system. Nani’s found himself since 2010, maybe now it’s time for Anderson to do so. There are signs of his improvement; he’s even begun scoring goals now.

Michael Carrick and Darron Gibson have the special ability to divide opinion. Carrick’s first two seasons showed the kind of player he was (and can be), and many said he lost his confidence after the Rome final, but at times he has showed entirely what he is capable of.  Darron Gibson has come under a lot of stick, some would say rightly so – and other’s wouldn’t.  With Gibson to turn 24 this year, it’s certain that if (and that’s a big if) he stays with United it will be his very last chance to impress Sir Alex.

Ryan Tunnicliffe and Paul Pogba are two of the gems from what looks like a very talented bunch of youngsters coming through. Of course, Ravel Morrison is deserving of mention, but his talents are better deployed in more attacking roles than what we are focusing on here. Tunnicliffe has the bite and the desire that have had many compare him with Roy Keane, which is a huge ask. If he manages to be half the player that Roy Keane was then we know we have a special lad on our hands.

Paul Pogba has looked a lot more than the “next Patrick Viera” that many writers, who are looking for an easy comparison, have said. Paul Pogba is more dynamic than Viera ever was, and he’s shown that he is worth every bit of legal disputes with Le Havre so far. Although in the end, the disputes were much more straightforward deal than Le Havre’s president, Jean-Pierre Louvel would have you believe.

Pogba and Tunnicliffe look like immensely talented prospects, but to throw them in at the deep end next season would be irresponsible. It’s likely that both will make their senior debuts at some stage during the season (probably in the League Cup), but we can’t expect Pogba to come in and score wonder goals for the first season straight away, like he does with the reserves.

A central midfield composed of the likes of Carrick, Fletcher and Giggs could be likely to bring about a similar season to the one just passed – and the team may will even end up with a twentieth title if luck is on United’s side, but it would not be able to conquer Europe. The midfield of Barcelona will once again be the best in the world. Perhaps Pogba or Tunnicliffe will emerge, but it is a good few years until they will be able to carry a side like Manchester United. If only Paul Scholes could turn 18 again on his next birthday.

Whether it be Luka Modrić, Wesley Sneidjer or perhaps someone, once again, a bit further left-field. It’s time for a new transformation of Manchester United to build on last year – let’s just hope it will be this season.

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