“Hello, hello, hey; pay attention to the manager!”
Today, our resident Manchester United fans in the Football Transfer Tavern are questioning whether Louis van Gaal broke into Sir Alex Ferguson’s old red wine cabinet at Old Trafford following his rather colourful half cut speech at the Red Devils’ player of the season awards yesterday evening.
In incredibly merry spirits, the Dutch tactician was in celebratory mood given United have all but qualified for the Champions League at the first time of asking under his stewardship.
It has been a case of mission accomplished for the Red Devils who by their own admission are more than content with snatching fourth place this term, seen as the ideal foundations from which to mount more of an assault on the Premier League title next season.
With one of the sound bite gems from van Gaal’s speech last night being that United are “very CLOSE” to the likes of Chelsea, in reality, they need to continue with a few more big name arrivals before they can really claim they are an on equal footing with the Blues.
With Memphis Depay already in the bag with the Dutch ace having completed his medical this week, United fans can look forward to another busy summer in the transfer market. Here are five midfielders who could be following Depay into the Theatre of Dreams.
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Click on the man who broke Twitter last night to reveal the 5 midfielders to help Manchester United win the Premier League next season.
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Ilkay Gundogan
The next big name arrival to follow Memphis Depay into Old Trafford?
The German internationa’s current club Borussia Dortmund have already claimed that Gundogan is set to leave Signal Iduna Park in the summer and the Red Devils have been linked with his signature for a few transfer windows now.
In the box-to-box mould like Ander Herrera, our resident United fans would love for the German to have a similar kind of impact to the Spaniard in a potential first season at Old Trafford.
Herrera has slowly got better and better under the guidance of van Gaal and Gundogan is somebody who could be deployed in Daley Blind’s position when injured or slightly further forward.
If United do want to capture Gundogan, they face competition from Barcelona who are also interested in acquiring his services, according to recent reports by The Mirror.
Koke
The Spanish really do have talent in abundance don’t they?
To think the likes of United’s very own Ander Herrera are yet to be recognised at senior international level really shows the depth of their riches right now in 2015.
One man who has managed to force his way into Vicente del Bosque’s plans however is Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke who is seen by many in Spain as the heir to Xavi’s unrivalled throne at international level.
To be compared to such an all-time great shows the talent Koke possesses and after winning the La Liga title under Diego Simeone last season, followed up by a third-placed finish this, perhaps now is the time for the Spaniard to embark on a fresh challenge?
Morgan Schneiderlin
Much of the talk surrounding a potential transfer for Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin this summer has concerned Arsenal making a swoop for his services but what about Manchester United?
You would imagine the Gunners to be the favourites for his signature given the French connection at Emirates Stadium but perhaps there is a place for him in the Red Devils’ midfield.
With Michael Carrick reaching the tail end of his career at Old Trafford, surely Schneiderlin is somebody that could step into his shoes and perform his role long-term?
Schneiderlin has grew and grew in each of his seasons in English football since arriving way back in 2008 and is able to break up the play but also provide cutting passes going forward.
Having also now established himself as a senior France international, now is the time for Schneiderlin to join an elite domestic club to match this status.
Kevin Strootman
Is there ever a transfer window that goes by without Manchester United being linked to Roma’s Dutch international midfielder?
The Red Devils have been linked to Strootman so much that some winter reports went as far to say that a deal was already agreed for this summer but all has gone quiet on the topic of late.
Unfortunately missing out on performing at the World Cup under van Gaal where the Netherlands claimed third place through injury, Strootman is contemporarily viewed as one of the best defensive-minded midfielders in the game.
With Roma not representing one of the elite clubs in European football at the moment, you’d imagine that Strootman has designs on making a leap to the likes of Manchester United at some stage.
That said, he has shown loyalty to Roma thus far and it will be interesting to see if his finally jumps ship from the Stadio Olimpico this summer.
Davy Klaassen
While Kevin Strootman is an established Netherlands international, Davy Klaassen is just forging his way into the Oranje set up.
Klaassen took over Ajax’s famous number 10 shirt following the departure of Siem de Jong to Newcastle United last summer and has been likened to Dennis Bergkamp by the Dutch media.
If Klaassen turns out to be anything like Bergkamp long-term, his next club will be extremely lucky to call upon his services.
It must be acknowledged that Klaassen signed a new deal at the Amsterdam ArenA until 2018 back in February but with contracts meaning far less than they used to in the modern game, perhaps van Gaal would be interested in landing and working with the next Dutch superstar.
Around a year ago, United’s interest in Klaassen intensified after Robin van Persie heaped praise on the youngster following a stellar performance against Barcelona in the Champions League.
