This season almost any player who’s put in a decent performance has been linked with Manchester United.
The list of players deemed ‘destined’ to come to Old Trafford in the Summer is so long, that if it were true United could fill a 25 man squad two times over.
Just looking at the goalkeepers being linked with United gives us some idea of how whenever a football writer is short of copy, making up a move to the Theatre of Dreams seems the easiest thing to do.
Goalkeepers linked with a move to United have been – deep breath now- Manuel Neuer, Pepe Reina, David De Gea, Gianluigi Buffon, Igor Akinfeev, Maarten Stekelenburg, Diego Lopez, Hugo Lloris and John Burridge – okay I made that last one up.
If Sir Alex Ferguson was planning to try out a new revolutionary tactic of having eight goalkeepers as some form of defensive unit, then that assortment of stoppers would be perfect, but he aint so they’re not.
It’s obvious United could do with another keeper as with Van Der Sar’s imminent retirement and Anders Lindegaard’s relative inexperience, surely Ferguson will be looking for a new number one.
Defensively United are arguably the strongest they’ve been in in recent memory – with Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Patrice Evra, Rafael and Fabio Da Silva giving Sir Alex plenty of quality options. The frustration at the lack of games Ferdinand has managed has been offset slightly by how well Smalling’s done since he arrived at the club.
When it comes to strikers, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Chicharito are a formidable trio with Danny Welbeck and Kiko Macheda also available if Ferguson’s needs them, spending millions on a striker would be a pretty pointless endeavour.
It’s in the midfield department that the smart money’s on Ferguson spending and spending big.
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Luka Modric, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Jack Rodwell, Gareth Bale, Wesley Sneijder, Beram Kayal, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Eden Hazard, Bastien Schweinsteiger, Ashley Young, Jeremy Menez and Marek Hamsik are just some of the names that it’s been claimed will be wearing the red of United next season.
While I’ve advocated the signing of Charlie Adam, as a dead ball specialist and someone with the ability to spread the play, I’m not sure that United really need to start throwing money around.
There are three reasons I’m beginning to think United may not need to ‘splash the cash’ quite as much as some would suggest. The three reasons are simple: Ravel Morrison, Paul Pogba and Tom Cleverley.
In that trio of United have three players who have made anyone that’s seen them bristle with excitement. Morrison’s recent brace against Liverpool in the FA Youth Cup has made him one of the most talked about players at the club, while Pogba is not far behind.
Both have excelled for the academy this season, Pogba who turned 18 this week – belated happy birthday son – has been compared to Patrick Vieira in the past, not just because of his physical appearance either.
Pogba can be a driving force deep from midfield and has a shot on him that Anderson can only dream of and the former Le Harve player has been attracting a lot of attention from the national media of late as certain newspapers realise he could break through to the first team sooner rather than later.
Morrison’s star is shining so bright that the club were even prepared to give him a chance following his recent court appearance, make no mistake about it, if it wasn’t for his talent, he’d have been jettisoned long ago.
Tom Cleverley has been one of Wigan’s best players this season, putting in stellar performances in a team that’s spent the last seven months battling relegation. As he did at Watford Cleverley’s shown himself to be a useful attacking midfielder that’s not afraid to mix it up a bit and get stuck in. I’ve made no secret of the fact I’m a big Cleverley fan and firmly believe he could do a job at Old Trafford next season.
Many Wigan fans, like Watford ones before them, rave about Cleverley and believe if they’ve any chance of survival he’s going to be a big part of it.
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Of course anyone will tell you playing for Wigan, or United’s academy or reserves is a lot different to playing in front of 70 odd thousand fans every week, but the same argument could have been used for any player to come through the ranks.
It’s been a while since anyone’s made the step up from the youth to the first team, but it’s also been a while since players of the caliber of Pogba Morrison and Cleverley were coming through United’s ranks.
With Michael Carrick recently signing a new long-term contract, it’s obvious that despite what many fans wish, he won’t be going anywhere soon. Neither it seems will Darren Fletcher who’s also poised to sign a new deal according to many reports.
While Fletcher has struggled at times this season, he’s still a class act on his day and hopefully once he gets himself fit, he’ll be able to put in the barnstorming performances he was fast becoming well known for.
Carrick’s one of the less revered players at the club, but while he may not be everyone’s cup of tea he has won a hat-trick of titles and a Champion’s League, so he can’t be the disaster some claim he is.
Darron Gibson’s a player that makes Carrick seem revered such is the level of disdain most Reds hold him in. I know most disagree but I’m still convinced Gibson may have a future at Old Trafford, particularly if his passing continues to improve.
Then there’s Rooney. I know I earlier labelled him a striker but as his recent performances have shown he can play practically as a midfielder and I for one think that’s where is future may lie.
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The point I’m making is do United really need to go out and spend £40, £50 or even £100 million on a host of players.
Given the choice of Henderson or Carrick I’d actually prefer the latter, ditto if you gave me the choice between Rodwell and Pogba. You can argue with some justification that Rodwell’s more proven but I’m not sure his ascendancy is as great as every one assumes. Last season, for me, was a more impressive one for the midfielder than this one has been and I genuinely think Pogba’s punching well below his weight playing for United’s academy or the reserves for that matter.
Some people claim that United need to spend big to show City, Chelsea and the rest of the pretenders that we’ve still got the financial clout to compete and are not totally crippled by the Glazer’s debt.
Well I’m sorry but that’s as ridiculous as it is dangerous. Spending money just to show you’ve got it is like going for a quick pint in Alderley Edge when you live in Stretford. Whether United have money or not is beside the point, I genuinely don’t think we need to buy more than maybe one midfielder and a goalkeeper.
Even if we just bought a ‘keeper I wouldn’t be that disappointed, I remember in 1995 when Mark Hughes, Andrei Kanchelskis and Paul Ince left for “greener pastures” after United had just experienced our first trophy-less season in six years.
Everyone predicted we’d fall behind mega-spending Blackburn and Newcastle but a few youngsters came through the ranks to poor dandelion and burdock on that particular chip barm.
Giving Cleverley, Pogba, Morrison and some would argue even Carrick, Gibson and Fletcher the job of looking after United’s midfield may be something of a gamble, but for me it’s less of gamble than spending £80 million on players who may or may not be good enough for Old Trafford.
Read more of Justin’s articles at the excellent Red Flag Flying High
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