By: Joey
ths have been one of the most outrageous in transfer activity, with stories popping up left, right and centre about players being linked with Manchester United.
Many names were being thrown around in the media; some of them carrying genuine intention from the club and others, merely fabricated stories that didn’t sustain very long.
Today, it is with a warm feeling in my heart that I say Sir Alex Ferguson has signed the best players that were available in the market in Shinji Kagawa, Nick Powell and Robin Van Persie.
Let’s take a closer look at our signings; Robin Van Persie, voted player of the year in the Premiership with 37 goals. While Shinji Kagawa, voted player of the year in the Bundesliga with 13 goals and last but not least Nick Powell, top scorer for Crewe Alexandra with 16 goals.
The sweetest part of all this; these brilliant additions to the squad only cost the club around 40 million pounds. That’s almost as much money Chelsea will eventually pay for Eden Hazard alone and almost as much money PSG will eventually pay for Lucas Moura alone.
Don’t get me wrong – these are two exceptional players. Any United fan would have drooled at the prospect of having either Hazard or Moura in a central midfield role at Manchester United but Fergie just didn’t see the justification in their price tags, especially not for a 19-year old boy, and therefore capped a limit on how much he would pay for them.
This is not because funds were not available; it was just not the value-for-money deals that Sir Alex Ferguson is accustomed to. That’s just not the way Manchester United does business!!!
Manchester United remains true to its roots up to this day when it refuses to pay large amounts of money for over-priced players. A clear statement that no player will ever become bigger than the club, and at the core of this ambitious statement is a true mastermind of the game that goes by the name Sir Alex Ferguson.
So next time you say it – know exactly what it means and say it with the utmost pride “In Fergie We Trust”
RVP cost £63 million in total…. for an injury prone 29 year old…..thats a big gamble
Yeah I agree that Ferguson has done well in terms of spending money for value recently. We will get stick and people having digs at us about spending £22 million for a 29 year old striker. There is no resale value of course. I think for once Ferguson went into the market and said “I’m buying for now with Van Persie, not next season or 2 seasons from now, but he is arriving for today and this season”. I don’t see anything wrong with that. If Van Persie helps us win the title this season then its worth the money, end of story.
I’m not stupid and Van Persie is a player we have signed for the next four seasons, not just one season, but my point is valid. He is being bought with short-term measures and not someone we are thinking over the long-term. He will be 32 at the end of his contract and could easily head somewhere else for free at that stage. However this time we will be happy as long as he has delivered goals and trophies.
Kagawa can be potentially be a fabulous player for us but we still need to find him a correct position. However he can be the creative and technical player we have needed for a while. The key to this boy is his intelligence and that is where we will benefit big time. Nani and Young are good but are not thinkers. They get the ball and cross and hope. Kagawa is more efficient and picks out good passes and makes good decisions. Its a massive difference having a player capable of making the right choice 8-9 times out of 10. Valencia is a player who is reaching that kind of level as well now.
Nick Powell is an exciting young talent and somebody who no one is talking about. However that is good because there is no pressure and he can come in a surprise a lot of people this season. Powell was head a shoulders above the players in the League Two when playing for Crewe. He is only 18 years old and scored 16 goals last season, including a terrific goal at Wembley in the Play-Off final. I see him as somebody Scholes will take under his wings and make him his long-term replacement.
I am still worried about the left back area because we need another one, and also a lack of aggressive tackling midfielder. I know Ferguson doesn’t like defensive midfielder’s but I do feel sometimes we need a player like that. The 4-4 draw against Everton is an example of a game when we needed someone to stop there midfield from playing, but no one could do it.