The rumours and gossip about which players are going to be coming into Old Trafford this summer continues unabated with the latest one being that Ajax’s star striker Luis Suarez only wants to move to Manchester United if he leaves the Amsterdam club. The 23 year old Uruguayan has been a prolific goalscorer since joining Ajax in 2007 scoring a remarkable 41 times in 42 appearances this season and 27 in the previous campaign.
Suarez signed a contract a few months ago to extend his current deal with the Dutch club until the end of the 2012-13 season. Nonetheless, United are rumoured to have been closely monitoring Suarez, having watched him six times recently. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson is said to be an admirer of the Uruguayan and sees parallels with former United star Cristiano Ronaldo given his ability to play either up front or out wide.
The United boss is now said to be ready to make his move. An Ajax source is quoted as saying “Suarez is a player that this club really wants to keep. He is an excellent talent and has scored a lot of goals for us. At the moment he is an Ajax player and we want to keep it that way but if a big offer comes in we would have to discuss it because he is a very ambitious player.”
Ajax boss Martin Jol wants Suarez to stay but would be powerless to stop him leaving if United comes in with an offer which comes close to meeting the £25million that the Dutch club is holding out for. The Uruguayan joined Ajax from fellow Dutch side Groningen three years ago and his amazing goal scoring record has alerted a string of European clubs. Suarez is renowned as a skillful, entertaining player who has already scored 10 international goals in 29 games and is set to star for Uruguay in South Africa.
Speaking in America last week, Ferguson said there is room for another striker at Old Trafford and Suarez is not the only signing who could be on United’s radar. Spanish newspaper AS is reporting that United have prepared a 23 million euro bid for Real Madrid midfielder Rafael Van Der Vaart who has impressed this season despite the fact that he was tipped to leave the Bernabeu last summer.
AS adds that a whole host of English Premier League clubs are also keen on signing Van Der Vaart including Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool with Sir Alex reportedly interested in bringing the Dutch midfielder to United as the long term replacement for Paul Scholes. Van Der Vaart has scored six goals and provided six assists in 29 appearances for the club and is believed to be happy at Real Madrid but Los Blancos may be forced to sell in order to prepare for another summer of “Galactico” spending.
A big money move for Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero has also been consistently suggested but the United manager will be more interested in Suarez as a relatively cheap alternative to the 21 year old Argentina striker. It has to be emphasized however that these sort of possible transfer moves have been pouring into media outlets for weeks with no certainty as to which ones, if any, ever eventuates.
Which one of these players, if any, would you like to see at Old Trafford?
