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"Let's get it straight right now. For the sake of the boy and the rest of the England team, we at United will do everything possible to get him fit in time.
"But I am not going along with this half-baked idea of him going to Germany 80 per cent fit and then find him being pressured into playing before he is ready.
"That was the experience of David Beckham in the last World Cup and it was a disaster because he wasn't right.
"Wayne is a special player, but he would be up against highly-honed opponents and, in those circumstances, you not only need to be physically fit but match-fit too.
"Wayne is young and in the environment of a World Cup it would be easy to persuade him to play despite not being fully fit
"What is needed here is a realistic approach."