Manchester United: Rumourmill

Possible Incoming Players, Sign 'Em or Swerve Away!?

Ok so its not set in stone, but according to all reports Luis Antonio Valencia is going to be a Manchester United player, perhaps even as soon as the end of this week. The fee is rumoured to be anywhere between £14 million and £19 million, me personally i'd expect it to be around the 16-17 mark but I (unfortunately) don't control Uniteds books!
So that basically spends Sir Alex Fergusons annual transfer budget of £20 million but, unless you've had your head firmly buried in a Costa Del Sol beach for the last month, we all know full well that there is another £80 million to be spent to replace some up and coming youngster by the name of Ronaldo. So who else is on the United radar??

DAVID VILLA
Villa (thats David, not Aston) has repeatedly stated his desire to remain in Spain to ply his trade, which obviously makes Uniteds task to lure him a little more difficult....unless he's not that good at Geography!
Villa is a class act but does also have a downside, namely his age. Dimitar Berbatov aside United as a rule don't tend to buy players older than 26, the prefferred route (a la Ronaldo, Anderson, Silva's etc) is to get them in as young players and teach them how to play the United way. Villa however is 28 yrs old and as such doesn't really represent good value at the prices being quoted.

Sign or Swerve: Swerve!

KARIM BENZEMA
Benzema is a lot more along the lines of a United type signing, he is young but has a massive reputation in Europe already. He has scored goals consistently domestically and in Europe and is not shy of the big stage, indeed he has scored against United on a couple of occasions now.
The big doubt about him is would he be able to do it in the Premiership? The Ligue 1, is not exactly known for its rough and ready attitude to defending and doesn't really have a lot of top line defenses for him to play against.....however as mentioned he has scored goals in Europe against top opposition and for a team that isn't really classed as elite.
The best part for United is that he's a real Striker, he's not a drop-off player like Rooney and Berbatov and so would suit the reds perfectly. The downside is that he seems set on staying in Lyon till after the World Cup, and United would face stiff competition from the likes of Madrid, Barca, Juventus, Inter....well most of the top sides in Europe!!

Sign or Swerve: Sign!

KLASS JAN HUNTELAAR
Huntelaar like Benzema, is an out and out striker and better than Benzema in the air which would give United a real all around threat. Probably not as quick or skillful as Benzema, but has played on the biggest stage and scored goals galore for an Ajax side who were not dominant in Ere Divisie at the time.
He would be a lot cheaper than Benzema or Aguero as he wants out of Madrid, however that means dealing with Madrid again who will probably try to bump the price up to recoup some of the Ronaldo fee.

Sign or Swerve: Benzema is priority, but if he's a no go SIGN!

FRANCK RIBERY
Ribery has been touted as the ideal replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, however thats based purely on his reputation. He has had success at Munich so far, but before that he was always one who was considered to have under achieved in his short career. Starting to show signs of being the player he can be, but in a league thats not the powerhouse it once was. Also couldn't do anything to help his side as they were blasted off the park by Barca.
A young and intelligent footballer, but no doubt Bayern would want big bucks and I don't think he's as good as some of the fees that are being talked about!

Sign or Swerve: Swerve

DAVID SILVA
This is a player who was strongly linked with United in the wake of the Ronaldo to Madrid deal, but since then has been very quiet. A mercurial talent with a wand of a left foot, would be an ideal foil opposite Valencia to stretch the opposition across the park and allow Rooney and co. to do their damage.
However he has been known to get knocked over by a toddlers cough, and although Ronaldo never exactly made an effort to stay on his feet, some coaches and scouts inside OT think he would more than likely get fed up with life in the Premiership very quickly.
His flexibility to play in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 formation is great, as he can score goals, but can also play just off the striker from a midfield role which gives Ferguson great options. With Ronaldo already at Madrid, and Ribery likely to go (if anywhere!) to Barca or Madrid...Silva is being overlooked by Uniteds fellow superpowers, and at a probable cost of £25 million would be cheaper than Ribery!

Sign or Swerve: If Uniteds coaches don't have faith in Nani to improve, Sign!

Of course there are, and will be many more names United will be linked with between now and the end of the transfer window in August. Aguero of Atletico Madrid is the Wild Card who may surprise everyone by wearing a different red shirt next year, but if I had to bet my cash one a superstar to arrive its going to be one of the above!