As the season nears an end, Manchester United have inevitably been linked with a number of players.
The talk surrounding a United move for Benfica’s Gaitan refuses to die whilst yesterday it was stated we were looking at Bryan Oviedo and today’s target appears to be Oscar De Marcos.
David Gill has overseen a number of United transfers in his time as Chief Executive, and has revealed this summer there will be activity as it is an area of his work that is paid attention all year round:
“We’re looking at all that. The work goes on all year round but obviously intensifies as we come to the end of the season in terms of players.
“There’s various contracts we’ve got to do, we’ll look at some acquisitions and there will be some players who will leave. It’s an interesting time.”
These comments are set to be analysed and over analysed as people will question who exactly he is referring to in terms of those on their way out as well as those the club are looking to tie down with new contracts.
Interesting time indeed!
The first thing is to focus on winning the title, which means being at our best against Everton and getting the victory. It is great and exciting to make signings, but its about winning trophies and titles.
I’m sure Gill has started looking at the targets Ferguson may have to strengthen the squad. You never know really because we’ve had quiet summers for transfers, especially in 2009 and 2010. We did well last season with the three signings made, but we still spent the whole summer expecting Wesley Sneidjer to arrive.
I hope we can sign a couple of midfielder’s because that is the area we need more quality. Axel Witsel could be ideal as a central midfielder, and then maybe another attacking player like Eden Hazard.
We know players will be leaving and the obvious one is Berbatov. I expect Owen will be released, along with Kuszczak. Owen might get a new ‘pay as you play’ deal only because Ferguson knows he is content as a back-up. Welbeck and Hernandez are young and will be expected to progress further next season. Owen is an experience back-up to have, especially if we want Macheda and Will Keane to go out on loan for 12 months to get experience.
Fabio will be heading out on loan for next season and I expect that we will look to move on Anderson in the summer. A name that might surprise some fans is Park Ji Sung. I can see him leaving if we get a good bid for him.
We need new players and I expect Nathaniel Clyne to be the first the arrive. He is the best right back in the Championship and is only 20. He can been bought for £2.5 million and will give us another option at right back, especially as Rafeal is slightly injury prone. We might buy a left back as well, but I want Ezekiel Fryers to sign a new deal and provide competition to Evra instead.
The midfield is the real area that we need to strengthen. I think Ferguson will be keeping an eye on Spurs and their attempt to finish in the top four. If they fail to do so then the chances of them keeping Luka Modric is almost certainly over. I know Chelsea made all the running for him last season, but it may have been because Ferguson knew Spurs would not sell at any price.
Modric wanted to leave last summer. I think agreements would have been put in place for his exit this season if they didn’t qualify for the CL. I think he could be bought for £30 million, especially if he decides he wants to join Man Utd. I know £30 million is a lot of money, but he is quality and experienced in England. We’ll never find another Scholes, but Modric can control games in the same manner.
I agree with @Andrew about Axel Witsel because he is a terrific young central midfielder. I thought we should have bought him last summer from Belgium, but he has been a success with Benfica. He is a box to box midfielder and capable of filling a number of roles in terms of attacking and defensive. We should arrange a deal that involves £9 million + Anderson and the season loan of Fabio.
I would be happy to see Clyne, Modric and Witsel arrive into the squad next season. I’m not really sure about these Gaitan and Hazard type players because we have wide players in Valencia, Nani and Young. They will perform even better if we have a stronger central midfielder. We saw how Valencia form rose as Scholes returned to the team. We play with wingers, which makes it hard to fit in these wide attaking players like Hazard, because he doesn’t play in the middle.
I have a feeling Nicolas Gaitan will join Manchester United. There seems too much fire around the story and no one has denied it. It has been around all season, just like the David De Gea story was last season.
There seems strong stories both in England and in Portugal to suggest that a deal is being agreed. Nico Gaitan is a similar player to David Silva and Juan Mata. Its the type of player that I think Man Utd do lack at times. We need someone who is not predictable in terms of style of play.
It seems a deal of around £20 million may be agreed. The cash sum is reasonable for a talented player. It also gives Ferguson room to manoeuvre in the transfer market for 1 or 2 other additions.