A subject on the punters’ minds in the Football Transfer Tavern of late has been just who England’s elite clubs will be parting ways with this summer and today we are concentrating on Manchester United.
The Red Devils didn’t really part with anyone of note when the free agents list was released a week or so ago with United fringe players Ben Amos and Tom Thorpe representing two of four players being let go.
However, a quick glance at United’s full playing squad on Wikipedia will quickly tell you that they boast one of the largest playing squads in the Premier League with Louis van Gaal having used more players than any other manager in the first half of 2014/15.
At the beginning of the season, van Gaal was assessing his squad as a whole and there were surprise inclusions of the likes of Jesse Lingard, Paddy McNair and Tyler Blackett right back in the infancy of 2014/15.
With the Red Devils having gone on to achieve qualification back into the Champions League, you feel van Gaal will now have a better idea of who deserves to remain and who isn’t so indispensable going forward.
We’d be lying if we claimed our Red Devils supporting punters by the bar didn’t like playing manager every so often so we are putting it to them today and asking them just who they don’t want to see performing at Old Trafford next term.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 Manchester United stars Red Devils fans want rid of this summer.
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Jonny Evans
It seems Jonny Evans has made one mistake too many now with our resident Red Devils having ran out of patience with the error-prone performances of their Northern Ireland international defender.
Evans has of course been something of a long-term stalwart at Old Trafford having made his debut back in 2006 but has he really turned into somebody who gives United fans the assurance that they’ve got the next Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic in their ranks?
The simple answer is no.
While Evans can be considered a good defender at best, he is certainly not a great one and with Louis van Gaal having now had time to assess his playing squad’s performances over the course of the season, perhaps Evans is one who will be subject to the chop.
van Gaal is a ruthless manager and if you believe what you read in the press, Aston Villa are readying a £10 million bid for his services.
United fans would snap your hand off for this deal to happen while reinvesting the money into a transfer for either Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels or Valencia’s Nicolas Otamendi.
Rafael
Similarly to Evans, we have often seen Rafael make costly errors that have either led to goals or eventual losses on the part of the Red Devils.
Rafael endured a frustrating 2014/15 campaign having been out of the team for long spells with injury and failing to achieve regular game time has led to Red Devils fans somewhat forgetting about him as a long-term fixture in their squad entirely.
The Brazilian defender looked a future star under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson but has lost his way somewhat and could be exiting the club like his twin brother Fabio who joined Cardiff City back last year.
The general consensus amongst our United fans in the bar is that if they manage to prise Nathaniel Clyne away from Southampton this summer while boasting Antonio Valencia in reserve, Rafael is a player who could well be surplus to requirements.
Javier Hernandez
Having now returned to Old Trafford following the conclusion of his season-long loan spell at Real Madrid, Javier Hernandez doesn’t seem to have a future under Louis van Gaal.
The Mexican international’s standout moment at the Bernabeu was of course that Champions League knockout goal against Atletico Madrid but that aside, the Mexican international’s stay in the Spanish capital was largely unsuccessful.
Hernandez was hardly a train wreck of a signing for United; it just seems as if the club have moved on and are looking to reach that next level under the stewardship of van Gaal.
Chicharito has largely been a sub in his Old Trafford career to date and you can imagine that the player has designs on achieving first team football at pastures new.
Still 27-years-old and in the peak of his career, you can imagine that Hernandez might represent a good bargaining chip to land some of their other transfer targets this summer.
Tyler Blackett
While Manchester United fans will accept that youngsters such as Tyler Blackett will indeed make mistakes along their developmental path, given the Red Devils needed to secure a top four place at all costs last term, fans were often impatient regarding the errors he made.
Most recently turning his back on Theo Walcott’s strike that earned Arsenal a draw at Old Trafford at the tail end of the season, the feeling is that Blackett is anything but the finished article.
While some Red Devils fans want to see the back of him entirely, others point to another loan deal being the most sensible option to take, preferably to a top half Championship outfit or a bottom half Premier League one.
The other youngster that enjoyed a breakthrough season under van Gaal last season was Paddy McNair and the consensus is that the now Northern Ireland international is the better prospect of the pair with his performance away at Chelsea being incredibly impressive for somebody so young.
Nani
An unwanted leftover of the Sir Alex Ferguson reign, Nani actually enjoyed a prosperous 2014/15 campaign away on loan at former club Sporting Lisbon but even this spell is unlikely to save his Old Trafford career.
Like Hernandez, you feel United have moved on since the days of Nani at Old Trafford and he is likely to be sold to pastures new with Roma and Inter Milan both having been credited with an interest in his signature.
What most United fans in the bar are claiming is that Nani could be used as a bargaining chip to land preferable targets and after all, if Roma are indeed keen, why not try and do a deal for long-term Red Devils target Kevin Strootman?
While Strootman’s injury record is questionable, he is a player that van Gaal likes and pretty much everybody in the tavern claims that shifting the deadwood to sign new additional components is a move worth making.
The only thing United fans will miss about Nani are his flamboyant somersaults but not much else!
