Blackburn face a tough task to stay in the Premier League.
Their defeat at our hands on Monday night saw them drop back into the relegation zone, but if they can show the kind of heart they did against us they, they could very well stay up.
Central to their resistance on Monday night was young defender Grant Hanley. The 20 year old Scot, who scored the winner against us at Old Trafford in December, impressed leading Sir Alex to praise his talents to Blackburn manager Steve Kean.
But Kean is weary of Sir Alex, especially having seen Phil Jones venture to Old Trafford last summer, and has implored the United manager not to come knocking for Hanley as he told The Sun:
“He was very complimentary about Grant.
“He thinks he’s good enough to play for Scotland for the next 10 to 15 years, and I agree.
“I hope Fergie’s not going to be putting a bid in. I said that to him.
“I told him leave it a bit longer because Grant is only just starting with us.”
I’m sure the interest is more to do with the fact he is Scottish. We don’t really require another young centre back in the squad. Ferdinand has shown that he is not finished yet and will be here next season. We also have Vidic returning this pre-season. Evans has emerged massively this season, and then we have Jones and Smalling. We also have Michael Keane who looks a talented defender.
I think Nathaniel Clyne could arrive for a bargain £2-3 million. Rafeal has done well in the last 2-3 games, but he is injury prone and we need another right back in the squad. Evra needs competition as well, but hopefully Fabio and Fryers will emerge and provide that next season.
The rest if the kitty will hopefully be used to bring in a couple of young exciting players. I think Anderson has sadly reached the finish line with Man Utd. He has been unlucky with injuries but he might need a fresh move away. We should try and sign James Rodriguez from FC Porto. He is a wide attacking player, but at 20 he looks an incredible talent. We could offer £18-20 million + Anderson. I think Anderson might welcome a return to FC Porto.
We should also try and sign Shinji Kagawa who could be available for £15 million. He is a terrific young midfielder who can score and create goals. He has rejected a new deal with Dortmund and has only 1 year left. He has been a success in Germany in the last two years, so I think he can step into English football. The marketing benefits of signing a Japanese Superstar is obvious.
I think both Rodriguez and Kagawa can arrive and it could cost less than £40 million. They are both young and attacking talents. We are letting Berbatov leave, probably Owen as well, so we have space. If Anderson leaves as well then that creates room for a new midfielder.
Gylfi Sigurðsson is the guy we need to sign for the midfield. He has been terrific for Swansea since arriving in January on loan. He looks an excellent player and was for Reading as well. He looks like he can play at a higher level and what I like about him is that he scores goals. If he plays in our team, with the players we have, then he can score double figures for sure.
He spent one season with Hoffenheim and it was a struggle because of injuries, but he still managed 10 goals and was voted player of the season by the fans. If he can be purchased for £7-8 million then we need to do that business. I’ve seen him play now in most of Swansea matches since he arrived, and he really does look the business. He has a good range of passing and his long range shooting is very good. He scored a delightful goal again Spurs recently.
Ferguson is not primed on buying big names with reputation. He likes to get in players with good intelligence and experience. This lad is only 22 but he knows English football because he came through the Reading academy. He shone in the Championship and has shown is capabilities in the Premiership since January. He is 6’1 and so has a good size as well.
People talk about Hazard, Sneidjer or as above Shinji Kagawa, but they are players with hype and reputation. They come with a big price tag as well. Sigurðsson may not be the big name people expect us to replace Scholes with, but he looks like he has the attributes we need, and could be a bargain like Hernandez was.
I agree mate 🙂