Speculation is increasing on how Sir Alex Ferguson will spend his well documented summer war chest.
We have already seen links to Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder and Everton’s Jack Rodwell. However, according to The Sun at least, Ashley Young is a hot target with a fee of £25million being discussed. Manchester United are reported to be prepared to offer Young a contract of £100,000 per week.
Young has recently been featuring for England in the games against Wales and Ghana and an England insider said “Him moving to Manchester United was the talk of the dressing room. You can see why United want him.”
The story may have legs, because Young recently turned down a new contract offer from Aston Villa worth £80,000 per week and now has just 14 months to run on his current £65,000 per week contract. Young made a name for himself as a Watford player, first in the Championship and then later in the Premier League. It was Young’s performances in the Premier League that eventually persuaded Aston Villa to part with £9.75million to sign him.
There is fellow Premier League interest in Young with both Liverpool and Tottenham showing an interest. However, Manchester United have the added advantage of being the only one of the three clubs that can currently guarantee Champions League football.
It appears that Young will have an integral part to play for England, if Capello persists with his new 4-3-3 system. Sir Alex Ferguson likes the player a lot and will be especially attracted to the player’s ability to play wide on either flank or up front. Young brings raw pace and skill to the table and also has the ability to get goals at vital times. There is also the suggestion that Young is seen as a long-term successor to Ryan Giggs.
The Verdict
I have always been a big admirer of Ashley Young and he is certainly an exciting player to watch. However, it is hard to imagine how Sir Alex Ferguson is going to accommodate all these proposed new signings. Manchester United already have some fantastic attacking talent and where would these new players leave players like Nani and Valencia.
However, these are really problems for Manchester United and from England’s point of view it would be a good move. We need our best players, playing for the best teams at the right end of the league table. But my feeling is that it would be a case of Sneijder or Young mainly because of the financial outlay and at times they might want to play in similar positions. Also to accommodate both players would be unfair on current players in the United squad that have done so well this season.
I haven’t been convinced by Ashley Young, whilst a good player I’m not sure if he is for us. We already have wide players and even in his secondary striker role we could employ Rooney there behind Hernandez or Berbatov.
The fee of £25m being quoted is obviously incorrect but if that is the fee that is further reason for us to turn up our noses at such a deal. – Ed.
Written by James Kent of Football FanCast
John Tring – That is the most ridiculous comment I have ever read. SAF is just about to hand us our 19th fucking title, he has won 12 titles in his time. He took over a very tired club living on tradition and has made us teh biggest club in the world. Fuck JM who the fuck is he to United, he is a fucking mercenary and should nevr be Uniteds manager!
Comments like that kill me, I cant believe how fucking ungrateful and naive some fans can be!
PS – David Gill has been tremendous for United and the truth about how much he has done for teh club will not beocme clear until the Glazers are gone. He might look like a puppet now but devil you know.
fuck you John Tring and everone in your household!
I agree with john (not that the boss is delusional) but our midfield needs addressing and i only feel we need cover for our wingers. Will AY who plays week in week out want to sit on our bench? 25mil with 1 year contract left is ridiculous to say the least. Otzil who younger and maybe a better player went to madrid for 12mil.
Apologies for my rant above I just think anyone calling for SAF to go for Mourinhio is outrageous.
Mourinhio is nothing to United in which he openly admts his love affair for Chelsea. If he came after SAF retired then so be it but for SAF to be replaced by the football mercenary that is is niave on all counts!
the fee of 25million is wrong. his contract has 14 months left as stated so no team would pay this. his value decreases massively in the summer to a max of 15 million maybe 10. an example of this is ozil who transferred to madrid for only 12million because he had only 12 months left on his contract when he was clearly worth more.
Ask yourself after Valencia & Nani who do we have that is not pending retirement? He is also super dope down the middle, won’t do us any harm what so ever!