Nice list but highly unrealistic... Deco? Chelsea winger? Why not a 25 year old Keane? I don't think we can get either of those... they should be under the cheeky bid bit. I'm not sold as Lennon yet, he's good and promising, but I'm not sure that he's available for the kind of money we'd have to spend. I'd also add Insua and Gago to the list. Insua if Scholes has to retire. Insua is very flexible. Can play as a AM, SS and on the wing. He'd probably only be an option to play in midfield in a team w/ Park on one wing and a solid DM.
Well Parker was superb before he went to Chelsea and they ********ed him about and then dumped him. At Newcastle he has no CM partner (Emre never helped him defend) and that is not good for his style of play. He was very consistent at Charlton, which prompted his sale in the first place. He'd be a Fletcher that is faster, can tackle, is decisive, can pass with an equivalent engine. As for Carrick, his potential is too much to ignore, imo. He's already a very good player. Quite mouth watering to think he'd be feeding our superior attackers chances whilst having more time and space to operate and pick passes in.
Barca are willing to offload Eto'o if they get Henry (I don't understand why they want to fix something that isn't broke!!) Deco would be worth a snff around. No harm in enquiring. I'd also ask about Van Bommel - should have put him on my original list. The winger thing is in the cheeky bid bit Hey Richardson plus cash wouldn't hurt !!
I don't see anyone out there worth the kind of money that Lyon want for Diarra. They're talkin Rooney money, and that should be reserved for someone who is clearly one of the top five players in the world. If we are going to solve the midfield problem from the outside, a young English player or someone with EPL experience would be preferable. I like the idea of Pederson on the wing, Carrick in midfield, Nolan or Downing even. I suspect Rossi will make the Scholes role his own some day, I'm just not sure he is ready next year. Spector has no future in my mind. Not even if you dump Silvestre. Basrdsley and Pique seem to be in front of him. Howard should stay, and will be a starter one day again. He is still very young for a GK, nine years younger than VDS. I think the next question should be when do we sell Ruud. At what point does what he can fetch outweigh what he brings on the field. He's our top scorer still, but in a year or two we should start looking.
OOPS on the winger bit. I don't think we'll get Deco, it doesn't make any sense. A play for Iniesta might be more likely to succeed. We won't go for Van Bommel - we should have done that when he was on a ********ing free...
Oh.. well I was still interested in finding out the answer. If anyone else cares to waste some free time to boggle an answer out.
I think Makelele, Gattuso, Diarra and Mascherano are the recognized top four. I'd put Gago 5th, but 5th is the highly debatable spot.
Makelele is a better short passer than exists at Manchester United. He's the premier builder of attacks in the world not famed for it. IE, Pirlo and Xavi get acclaim for doing what Makelele was doing before they became famous for it and he's better than them at it imo, but just not as flashy and doesn't have the same long range passes. Gattuso can't shoot very well, but he's strong, fast and while built in the mold of a destroyer, he's not just a ball winner, he can cross and pass as well. He's not Pirlo, but he's not Fletcher either.
I forgot David... he's top notch, perhaps just slightly above Gago, but I'm BIG on Gago... he's like Keane except better going forward... he's the PERFECT signing, but I know we won't go in for him.
He's not as calm on the ball as Carrick... who is almost Xavi esque in his distribution and his demeanor on the ball. But Gago's speed of thought is impressive. He's the only hardman I know who routinely dribbles people and play's 1-2s. Its like he doesn't understand that's he just supposed to have a beard and be angry...
ummm what? what are you confused about? Keane in his prime is who I was referring to, and Gago's got that fire and temperament. He's also quite small, just like Keane, and is still widely regarded as one of the hardest tacklers in the Clasura. He's got an amazing motor and is excellent going forward (Keane was an amazing attacking threat he was a goal threat and scored 8 goals in the first half of his first season, but then Robson told him to be more of a playmaker rather than an attacker and he tempered his attacking play).
Sorry for being negative again ( belive me I am willing the lads on with every sinue of my temperment, bloddy lucky chelsea.) But ! yet again it looks like we MANCHESTER UNITED who play at Old Trafford a 70,000 seat stadium are going to pick up all the Midfield players that other teams in the world dont want!!!! What state of affairs is this and is anybody at Old Trafford concerned I dont care what any of you say, for Manchester United to be an also ran in the Transfer stakes from one season to the next is disgracefull. And no we dont want Nolan, or Cahill. damit were one player away from greatness, and the player we want is going to chelsea.