With an air of rebellion surrounding Old Trafford some of the attention has shifted from a side striving to maintain its dominance. Despite Wayne Rooney’s heroics in recent games there is an uncertainty presiding many squad members long-term status at the club, including both senior players and those on the fringe.
Captain Gary Neville is the heart and soul of the football club but at 35 the defender’s age is now getting the better of him. Retirement this summer is not unexpected and at best Neville will play one final token year as a professional. Paul Scholes is also yet to sign for another season at the club.
Meanwhile some of Sir Alex Ferguson’s more frustrating players face uncertain futures. Anderson – injured for at least the next six months – and Nani are still stuck in the rut of inconsistency. Nani’s brief return to form in January is only a moment in a largely disappointing campaign.
Manager Ferguson must also make some big decisions about his younger players. Gabriel Obertan, Mame Biram Diouf, Ritchie De Laet, Darron Gibson, Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck are clearly far from the finished product. Will each progress into the players they were once expected to be, or be jettisoned to the Championship in years to come?
Even if United take the Premier League this May or head to European glory in Madrid some rebuilding is necessary this summer. Arguably, United needs to invest in another reliable winger, a creative central midfielder and possibly a striker.
World Cup years are not normally the best time to rebuild with grossly inflated prices for many of the best performing players. Mangers often try to do their essential business before the tournament, which begins on June 11.
Ferguson, once again, will face another huge conundrum this summer. Break the bank on a few class acts – Angel di Maria and Karim Benzema for example – or invest sparingly and hope for continued improvement in the current squad.
Benzema or Luis Suarez could prove useful acquisitions and each fits within the transfer policy of only signing younger players that command a high resale price, although neither will come cheap.
With the Argentine Di Maria grossly overpriced Joe Cole’s acquisition, if he remains a free agent, would represent a major coup for Ferguson. A player the Scot tried to sign at the age of 14, Cole still has years at the top ahead of him.
Although Jack Rodwell seems, almost inevitably, keen on a move to play along side his hero Rio Ferdinand a transfer is probably dependant on whether Nemanja Vidic remains at Old Trafford beyond the summer.
What is clear, the club’s financial situation means that United will not pay £50 million for Frank Ribéry this summer. The signing of Chris Smalling suggests another summer of caution in the transfer market that will disappoint many fans.
The green and gold army is gathering strength, although a full takeover seems unlikely in the near term. Whilst fans may hope for a revolution at Old Trafford, don’t expect major changes anytime soon. On or off the pitch.
one player u missed put in this post is mesut ozil dubbed as new ryan giggs he plays for werder bremen . he will be available free if he dont’t sign contract till end of season..
http://community.footballpools.com/blog/2010/03/05/mesut-ozil-manchester-united-alerted-to-dazzling-germans-contract-breakdown/
Angel di Maria is the player to sign this summer! He has said his dream move would be to Old Trafford and having watched videos of him on youtube, Fergie would be insane not to sign him asap! Yesterday Barcelona joined the chase just after it was announced Juventus had also joined Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City in wanting this kid! There is a reason why all the top clubs want him, the advantage we have is he wants Utd! Fergie sign him up!!!!
mesut ozil, the “new ryan giggs” I DONT THINK SO, THERE IS ONLY ONE RYAN GIGGS.
angel di maria would be a good fit for us and all those other clubs only wants him because we ahve been looknig at him, they are obsessed with being like us.
fact is, we can buy who ever the hell we want because we are manchester united, the biggest football club on earth.
Bring on David Silva
if its true that we have £80m 2 spend then we should go for di Maria in my opinion, but a cheaper alternative could be Marko Marin from Werder Bremen who has been just as impressive this season as Ozil. As for a creative midfielder Yohann Gourcuff looks like one of the most talented players in world football, his form has dipped a bit lately but if he has a good world cup there will be a big race for his signature. There are decent players out there who could fit in well, it just depends on whether Fergie sees value for money in the market. Ever Banega, David Silva, Wesley Sneijder, Luca Modric, take your pick. And if Real Madrid mess around with Higuain think of the options we would have up front. Scary.
No mention of a new goalkeeper? At best 1 year left for VDS, Foster hasnt cut it, and the least said about KK the better. As shown with Foster, potential is a difficult thing with goalies, they need to perform from the word go which means 15 million or more. THere is no money, the fabled Ronaldo money went to the banks, it is sell to buy, Anderson and Vidic were probably earmarked as the money generators this summer, but cant sell a crocked player like Anderson till next year, and Vidic is not the player he was 18 months ago.
At the beginning of this season I predicted to a pal of mine that we would have a season of transition. In the end, I believe that next season is that season of transition. How we act in the transfer market, and how both our young prospects and veteran warriors fare in the eyes of SAF will determine the kind of season we have for 10/11.
Of course, all those criticising the G&G campaign and the Red Knights will find a stronger voice if we end up spending lavish amounts of money of quality new world class players.
Emphasis on IF…
I got the feeling this was something of a transitional season! But you’re right. Scholes will retire, Giggs and Neville will play even less of a role. Ferdinand will have to accept he can’t play Saturday/Wednesday anymore, Vidic may leave, VDS may take on a lesser role if United sign another ‘keeper.
Hi all me again. First things first, Dan you have really exce;lled yourself here i’ve just been reading your articles and feel this is b far the best. The grammar is sensational, the use of metaphors is scintillating and finally the use of the word ‘jettisoned’ you pulled that one out the bag, where did you get that from. But now seriously stoip reading the dictionary, even if it is in your toilet.
Anyway back to the article. My thoughts: all i can say is that most of the prospects yet again look unrealistic, pretty typical of you dan but hey beggars cant be choosers. Looking back i now feel guiti or raul would be welcome realsitc targets. Also has no one thought of David Trezegeuet he is out of contract and would be a superb addition.
One last thing Dan, have you ever considered writing an article about Andy Goram?