It looks like it is going to be a big spending Summer at Old Trafford, the Express is reporting that Sir Alex Ferguson is intent on building a young dynamic squad with which he can pass on to his successor so that they can continue to reign at the top of the English game after his departure.
The total amount quoted is £100million, quite an outlay for a club who are supposedly skint, and there was me thinking it was their neighbours Manchester City that were meant to be ruining football. Rather than covering all the links, rumour and speculation, I thought it better to cut to the core and look at whether these potential signings would be good and worth the considerable price that would have to be paid to secure each one.
So this morning I sat down with two of my friends (who both support teams well outside of the top flight so unbiased), with a pad of paper, a calculator and some strong coffee. We rated each transfer out of 10, and this was then averaged out, Lets get it on:
Maarten Stekelenburg – £10million – Joe T: 8, Adam: 8, Ron: 7. Average Rating: 7.7
Our thoughts on this generally confirm that the Ajax goalkeeper is good quality, scores were a little bit low because it is slightly underwhelming, there are better keepers out there. It is a good price however in the modern game so could represent a good piece of business.
Gareth Bale – £30million – Joe T: 9, Adam: 8, Ron: 7. Average Rating: 8
A bit of disagreement over this one, I personally think Bale is great and would be a quality addition to the United squad. The winger would be a good long term replacement for Giggs and with Nani on the other wing, they would be a real threat. The other 2 members of the panel questioned the value of the transfer and questioned whether he was worth such a high figure after a relatively short time at the top of his game, the term ‘one season wonder’ was uttered by someone!
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – £10million – Joe T: 7, Adam: 7, Ron: 3. Average Rating: 5.7
Discussion here came down to whether you gave benefit of the doubt to Premiership scouts. The attitude of me and Adam was that if so many teams were chasing the player, he must be pretty decent. We still thought £10million represented a massive risk for a player who has only played in League 1, however whilst Theo Walcott has not exactly become a world beater if Chamberlain has similar success £10million would not be too excessive. Resident grouch Ron however thought 3 was an appropriate score citing his total inexperience at a higher level, bah-humbug!
Ashley Young – £20million – Joe T:6, Adam: 7, Ron: 6. Average Rating: 6.3.
After we had finished making jokes about webcams (lets see who else remembers that reference) the discussion about Ashley Young came round to the fact that we are constantly told he is great without really seeing anything in reality. His pace is obviously a massive asset, and he has good delivery, but none of us were certain that he was good enough for Manchester United and especially at £20million. Considering Adam Johnson who we all agreed was a far better player cost Manchester City £7million, we thought Sir Alex might be overpaying and there might be better options out there available for less wedge.
Jordan Henderson – £15million – Joe T: 8, Adam: 6, Ron: 6. Average Rating: 6.7
Henderson is a player that has really improved massively this season and I see him as a potential star for the future, it is fair to say that my friends disagreed! I managed to convince them to raise their scores slightly, but at 6 there belief in the player isn’t overly high. Various opinions included the fact that spending £15million on Carrick#2 was ridiculous, and that what United really need is some more flair in their midfield. The positive coming from Adam was that Ferguson might be able to craft something, and that generally he is pretty good at spotting talent. This one definitely divided our opinion!
Jack Rodwell – £20million – Joe T: 7, Adam: 7, Ron: 6. Average Rating: 6.7
Pretty much unanimous agreement when it came to the giant Evertonian. Rodwell has been a long term target of Sir Alex (and other clubs), but has he started enough games to warrant such a huge price tag? If Rodwell was a regular for Everton and had started the majority of games then £20 million would be entirely reasonable, but now at 19 he still isn’t an automatic starter in an Everton side which isn’t performing overly well. He clearly has all the physical attributes and we are convinced he will go on to be a good player, but we are not sure at this stage in his career that the fee matches what he has actually produced.
So there you have it, three opinions from three random people, the men in the street if you will. If Fergie is to bring in all the above this Summer it would certainly put Manchester United in a good position for next season, whether they all demonstrate value for money remains to be seen. The other question in my mind is that, if Sir Alex is really doing this in order to help whoever succeeds him, isn’t that person going to want to bring in the players that THEY want, rather than the ones the current manager thinks the club might want?
Either way, my flatmates are now sat with ice-packs on their heads after spending this morning having to consider the football transfer market, but maybe they will return in the future to offer their clearly wonderful insights into this game that we love!
For more thoughts, rumours, and ridiculous ideas, follow me on twitter @soccercityjoe!
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