Marcos Rojo joins Manchester United for £16m on five-year contract

The Argentinian World Cup defender joins for £16m with the Portuguese winger Nani moving in the opposite direction on a season-long loan. "It is such an honour to say that I now play for Manchester United," Rojo said. "The Premier League is the most exciting league in the world and to have the chance to play in it for the world's biggest club is a dream for me, the Guardian reports. "I am young and am very keen to continue to learn the game, so playing for such an experienced technical coach as Louis van Gaal is a fantastic opportunity for me. I have joined United to work hard with my team-mates to win trophies and I know that the manager shares that ambition." Rojo, 24, joined Sporting from Spartak Moscow, having started his career at his hometown team of Estudiantes in Plata. He has played 28 times for Argentina and played six games, including the final, in his country's run to the World Cup final, scoring in the last group game against Nigeria and was named in the team of the tournament. Rojo will be able to slot in at left-back in a 4-4-2 or play wing-back in a five-man defence. He is particularly useful to Louis van Gaal because he can also play at centre-back, where United are particularly weak. With the £27m signing Luke Shaw out for around four weeks, Rojo may slot straight into the United team for the trip to Sunderland on Sunday. "Marcos is a very gifted defender," the United manager said. "He has played at the highest level in world football and can play either as a central defender or left back. "He has ability, physical strength and a willingness to learn that means he has a very bright future ahead of him. He had a very strong World Cup and has been playing in Europe for a couple of years now. He is a very good addition to the team." The move for Rojo had been complicated by a row between Sporting and a third-party ownership group, while the player upset his employer by initially refusing to train in a bid to push through the deal, although he later apologised and returned to work. The 27-year-old Nani, who moved to Manchester seven years ago, previously spent four years as a Sporting player after leaving Real Massama in 2003.