“You look at the likes of Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes, for all they have done in football, which is unbelievable. Yet they are very humble and down to earth.”

- Manchester United Reserves coach Warren Joyce

“When I heard that UNICEF wished to invite me to become a National Ambassador, immediately I thought ‘If it is about doing something for the kids of my country, I am in’. And now that this day has come, I want to express my excitement and my commitment. We have a lot of work ahead of us, so that all the children and adolescents of Mexico may fully exercise their rights and enjoy all that they are entitled to.”

“Being a UNICEF National Ambassador is a significant responsibility. I am now a spokesperson for this great organization, and must call people to action in order to help millions of children and adolescents have access to the same opportunities and to a better life. Let’s unite for children, let’s keep up our score in achieving a better present for Mexico’s children and adolescents.”

- Javier Hernandez

Javier Hernandez has been named a UNICEF National Ambassador for Mexico.

Susana Sottoli, UNICEF’s Representative in the Latin American country:

“Mr. Hernandez is a young man who, through his own life, has demonstrated a clear ability to set and achieve his goals. He has been faithful to his principles, and keenly focused on his objectives. I trust that he will be able to pass his approach to the children and adolescents of Mexico. It is therefore a great pleasure for me to name him as our National Ambassador, and welcome him as he joins our efforts for Mexico’s children.”

Park Ji-Sung and Rio Ferdinand during a football charity match ‘the Asian Dream Cup 2012’ in Bangkok, Thailand to raise funds for the JS Fountation

“I think you’re more driven when you lose a trophy. We refer to it as our trophy because we’ve won it so many times and I think when we do lose it, we want it back and we want it back quickly.”

“We’ve faced disappointments before and we’ve always come back and that’s what we need to do now. We’ve had so many highs over however many years but you’ve got to take the lows as well. You’ve got to take it on the chin and come back bigger and better next year.”

- Ryan Giggs

Manchester United’s Player of the Month: May 2012 = Ashley Young

“I’ve played with a lot of world-class players but Roy is up there in the top five. His drive, stamina and determination are fantastic and he always had the ability to makes football look very simple. He always made great decisions and the power he had as a midfielder was unbelievable - there are very few players I’ve seen in my career who have the same qualities as Roy Keane.”

- Jaap Stam

“The fans were great. They supported us all the way through the season. We appreciated the support they gave, especially to the young players who came through. The fans recognise the young players are still trying to find their way and find their feet at the club. The fans supported the young players really well.”

- Ryan Giggs

“I’ve already learned so much from Paul. Football is his main concentration and focus. He doesn’t get caught up with anything else. He’s so professional. From a personal point of view, Paul staying on for another year after coming out of retirement means I know I have got a job on my hands, but from a collective point of view, he is one of the reasons why we can all come together next season and win trophies again.”

- Tom Cleverley

“I don’t feel I am owed anything. I’ve had some bad luck and now I have just got to get on with it. From a great start it became the hardest season of my life. But it has made me mentally stronger. I’ve always had to cope with disappointments in my career. I had two injuries over the years but I got through them. This was the hardest yet. If you had said to me after the Everton game in October that I wouldn’t start another Premier League game in the season I would have been massively gutted. But that turned out to be the case and it was tough to come to terms with. There is nothing more exciting in life than to be playing for Manchester United. To have that taken away is very hard to deal with. You need good family and friends around you and I have that. The lads at the club were also very supportive.”

“There were times during the season when I thought I was the unluckiest footballer in the world. I was called up for England and the match was called off because of the riots. Then when I was called up again, I was injured again. It has been a nightmare at times but I am only 22 and have around 15 years ahead of me yet. I just hope I have got it all over and done with now. When you get an injury, you need about two weeks to get your head around it and for your mind to clear. Then you’re desperate to get back in amongst the lads. There were definitely bad days. When you spend four to six weeks in the gym, you just get sick of the sight of the same four walls. That’s when you think to yourself this is the worst part of football. But you also comfort yourself by thinking the better days are ahead. I always knew I’d be back and that eventually all the hard work would pay off.”

- Tom Cleverley

“He did get criticism last season but I made mistakes at Ajax when I was young, and also at Juventus and United. The main thing is how you recover in the next game, or the game itself. He did that. He became more important as the season went on and made good saves. I am sure United knew all (about him) when they signed him, so would have been aware of what to expect.”

“Maybe it was hard to follow in my footsteps. It can happen. People used to get compared to Peter Schmeichel, now maybe it’s me. De Gea has to ignore that and just play his own game. Eric Steele, the goalkeeping coach, and the manager will both help him and hopefully next season he will be ready from the start.”

- Edwin van der Sar

“It’s been a whirlwind season for me. We’ve been unfortunate with injuries this season which has probably enabled me to play more games than I expected. I’ve really enjoyed it and I feel like I’ve really progressed and come on as a player. It’s a massive learning curve for me. Being at United in my first season has really given me an insight into the passion and drive the club has. The history speaks for itself and we’ll do it the United way, we’ll bounce back and we’ll go again next season.”

- Phil Jones

And so the silly season begins with one of the best hoaxes of all time.

A website was made to look like Manchester United’s official site reporting the official signing of Eden Hazard with the statement:

Eden Hazard will become United’s first signing of summer 2012 after the Reds successfully negotiated a transfer with Lille.

A club statement published on Sunday reads as follows:

“Manchester United is delighted to announce it has signed an agreement with Lille for the transfer of Eden Hazard.

The deal will be completed once the player returns from international duty.”

More to follow.

A closer inspection of the website’s address revealed it was a fake, using the url www.rnanunited.com (with an r and n at the beginning, rather than an m). The rest of the page was an exact duplicate of the real site with links back to the real pages.