Today our Manchester United fans in the Football Transfer Tavern are wondering what kind of arrival celebrations Fenerbahce fans would ever throw for the likes of Lionel Messi, such was their appreciation of Nani as he arrived in Istanbul ahead of completing his transfer to Turkey.
The Portuguese international is exiting Old Trafford after an eight-year association with the Red Devils and United fans are looking on his transfer with great regret, given the talents Nani did manage to showcase on several occasions.
Unfortunately for the player himself, he did not show his talents nearly regularly enough to convince everybody that he could lessen the impact of Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Old Trafford and after a spell back on loan at former club Sporting Lisbon last term, it seems Nani’s career is winding down slowly, albeit in new adoring surroundings.
We also saw Lukas Podolski trade Arsenal for Fenerbahce’s cross-town rivals Galatasaray at the weekend and everybody in the tavern is sure that both the German international and Nani will produce the goods as big time players in the Turkish Super Lig.
But with Nani now departing, who else could be following him out of the exit doors at Old Trafford? Here’s five men who may also suffer that fate.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 players to follow Nani out of Manchester United this summer.
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Jonny Evans
Linked with a £10 million transfer to Aston Villa earlier this summer, we reckon that Jonny Evans will be the man to depart Old Trafford after Louis van Gaal secures another defender, whether that be Sergio Ramos or otherwise.
Ramos has most recently claimed that all is well at Real Madrid at present but with cat and mouse games often swirling around players of that calibre, this stance could easily change for what would seemingly be the umpteenth time.
The consensus amongst Red Devils fans is that United need to swoop for a proven top quality centre back which is still required at the club following the high profile departures of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand a little while back.
Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have good performances in them but are always prone to a mistake but given their age in comparison to Evans, we expect the Northern Irishman to depart and after all, Jones signed a new deal recently.
Angelo Henriquez
Manchester United fans have hardly seen this man in a Red Devils shirt since arriving back in 2012 and they may not get too many more opportunities to boot.
Spending a successful loan spell away from Old Trafford at Dinamo Zagreb last season, Angelo Henriquez struck a mightily impressive 20 goals in 25 appearances for the Croatian giants and was as a result selected by Jorge Sampaoli for Chile’s squad in the Copa America that they won on Saturday evening.
Despite this hot streak in Eastern Europe, it remains to be seen whether he has done enough to force his way into Louis van Gaal’s plans and a lot will depend on how he performs for United in their pre-season campaign.
At present, we can only see the Red Devils boss loaning Henriquez out once again or potentially as a makeweight in order to lure another transfer target.
Javier Hernandez
All of the punters in the tavern this weekend were stunned to hear that some bookmakers had suspended betting on Robin van Persie also joining Fenerbahce this summer so perhaps Javier Hernandez may receive a reprieve this summer.
On second thoughts, he probably won’t after having already been deemed surplus to requirements by Louis van Gaal this time last summer.
We think that if Chicharito has been looked beyond once in van Gaal’s tenure, we fully expect him to be in this same situation this time around.
Hernandez has been linked with a whole host of clubs that have even extended to new Major League Soccer franchise Orlando City but it remains to be seen who he fancies joining next.
A good player on his day, Hernandez has ultimately not been able to shake his super-sub status at Old Trafford and is believed to be keen on securing first team football elsewhere.
Adnan Januzaj
His stock seems to have fallen almost as quickly as it rose under David Moyes but Adnan Januzaj really looks like a player who could do with a loan switch away from Old Trafford right now.
Manchester United fans by the bar are adamant that the club shouldn’t lose Januzaj on a permanent deal this summer but would be open to the Belgian international exiting the club on loan to prove himself again.
After getting into the Red Devils’ first team and impressing in his earlier days in a United kit, Januzaj has suffered as a result of squad rotation under Louis van Gaal, not to mention the arrival of Angel Di Maria and the improvements in Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia.
Also currently out of the Belgian squad due to his lack of game time at club level, a loan switch to the likes of Everton would make total sense this summer.
Nick Powell
Some of our United regulars had even forgot that Nick Powell is still on Manchester United’s books.
Enjoying the perfect start to his first team career at Old Trafford with a goal on his debut against Wigan Athletic in 2012, Powell has been on the fringes of the United team ever since and even that is being kind.
Sampling loan spells in the Championship with Wigan Athletic and Leicester City of the Premier League since, it looks as if Powell is one of those players who will never truly breakthrough at Manchester United unless he completes something imitating a Francis Coquelin-like turnaround.
Seemingly a very good Championship-level player, little has been spoken about Powell’s future so far this summer but we fully expect that he’ll complete yet another loan move or alternatively a permanent switch away from the Red Devils as the transfer window draws towards its conclusion.
