'Manchester United's steadfast rock': Tributes flood in for Nemanja Vidic

The Serbian defender made his name at Red Star Belgrade and Spartak Moscow before heading to the Premier League and winning five league titles, three League Cups and a Champions League under Alex Ferguson.

As he walks off into the sunset, we take a look at some of the greatest tributes ever paid to one of the giants of his generation.

Alex Ferguson wrote about Vidic in his autobiography about an episode in 2009 which is deeply revealing of Vidic's character: "Vidic was a dour, uncompromising sod. He was a proud Serb. In 2009, he came to see me to say he might be getting called up. 'What do you mean, called up?’ I said, alarmed. ‘Kosovo. I am going,’ he said. ‘It’s my duty.'”

Ferguson also spoke back in 2011 about how Vidic had found it difficult to settle in at first. "That happens to some players coming into the English game. But Nemanja adapted and has been a great signing," he said.

"He is a warrior. He is a natural defender. You don’t leave him out unless you are going to rest him.

"When the ball comes into the penalty box, you know that the one who wants to get it clear will be Nemanja, as he did against Tottenham. He was so powerful and positive in everything he went for.”

Writing in The Independent last year, Paul Scholes told the story of how Vidic transformed himself: "It might surprise you to hear that Nemanja, who arrived from Spartak Moscow, was not the powerful centre-back he became over his years with the club. There was nothing of him when he arrived. He was skinny and relatively easy to push off the ball. Like Patrice, he took a battering in his first few weeks at the club – in training as well as matches...

"Nemanja must have realised quite early on that he was not strong enough to play in the centre of defence at that time, so he did something about it. For the next year, every time I walked past the gym, I would see Nemanja in there lifting weights. He turned himself into a big, strong centre-half who was capable of knocking strikers out of the way."

On the eve of Vidic's final match at Manchester United, Ryan Giggs wrote a moving tribute in the United Review: "I can say with certainty that tonight's game provides the opportunity for Old Trafford to say farewell to probably the best defender I have ever played with: Nemanja Vidic.

"Jaap Stam and Rio Ferdinand fall into the mix as well when I consider that statement, but Nemanja has been an immense player for United for so many years and he has enjoyed great success as well."

Eurosport regular contributor Jim White, who has called Vidic "the steadfast rock around which Manchester United spun, the fixed point in the accumulation of 15 trophies" and "absolutely central to all of Sir Alex Ferguson’s later achievements at Old Trafford", wrote about the defender two years ago after his exit from United:

"In all honesty, which footballer would you more like on your team than the Serb? What a titan. A man who put himself on the line in every confrontation, he not only gave his all, he ensured his team-mates did also. As captain he not only led from the front, he made sure everyone else followed.

"Looks are not everything in football. But in Vidic’s case they spoke volumes. He looked almost as terrifying as he was. That scowl, that glare, that furrowed brow: it was enough to remove the resolve from the most stout hearted opponent. And a glance from the skipper was equally capable of ensuring no-one on his own team slipped from his elevated standards.

"This was not just a defender who appeared to regard it as a personal affront to concede a goal, here was someone who chivvied his colleagues into similar acts of defiance. No-one was going to shirk from a tackle knowing Nemanja would be on their case...

Tributes from fans and pundits immediately began pouring in across the internet.