Sir Alex Ferguson is reportedly interested in making a bid for Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi. If that wasn’t enough to make them spit out their cornflakes, they also learned that the move for the Italian play-maker could cost up to £35 million.
It’s all gone very quiet at Old Trafford, but rumours are spreading that this season or next, could be the last of Paul Scholes’ glittering career. If this is true, Ferguson will need to act quickly to replace the 36 year old, and will need to inject some real quality into the United midfield. De Rossi is seen by many to be the perfect replacement.
De Rossi is quite a popular figure at Roma, having played there all his career. He recently supported the team’s fan’s decision to boo them off the pitch following a poor performance against Shakhtar Donetsk. Think Roy Keane, but with less ‘prawn sandwich’ metaphors.
Roma are naturally not going to let him go without a fight and whilst £14 million is the optimistic figure being touted by some, it’s likely that the eventual fee could double that, with United players Macheda and Anderson being used as makeweights for the deal.
At 27, De Rossi has 63 caps for Italy and is the Azzuri’s vice-captain. He was even in the squad for the 2006 World Cup, scoring the third penalty in the eventual shoot-out against France which won the Italians the cup. De Rossi had missed out on 4 matches during the tournament, following a straight red for elbowing the USA’s Brian McBride in the face. He’s not as nutty as some Italian midfielders though…there’s a pun there I think!
Manchester United will be a step-up from Roma, who currently sit 8th in the Serie A table. And at 27, De Rossi is arguably at the peak of his career. When Scholes does decide to step aside gracefully (or otherwise) De Rossi would be the natural successor for the United manager.
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