Manchester United’s alternatives to Cesc Fabregas

With how public Moyes has been and how quiet Fabregas has been, I do genuinely believe that there is still a good chance of United signing the former Gunner but they must consider back-up options.

New Barcelona Manager Gerrado Martino will be very reluctant to make his first bit of business at the Nou Camp to sell a high profile player. Taking this into consideration David Moyes must assess his options, as recruiting a new central is vital.

So, other than Cesc Fabregas, who could partner Michael Carrick in the centre of the park?

Ilkay Gundogan:

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has emerged in the last couple of seasons as one of the most promising midfielders in European football. At the age of just 22, he has broken into the Dortmund first team and has established himself as a vital part of the German club’s starting 11.

Gundogan is great on the ball, has a brilliant passing range, can get forward and score goals as well as being great when winning back possession and breaking up play. He is a type of all-round midfielder and at the age of just 22 could run United’s midfield for at least 10 years.

I do not only feel that he is a great alternative to Fabregas, I genuinely believe that he should have been considered first as this guy will be world class when he peaks. He is a very exciting footballer and I feel that a bid should be put in.

Luka Modric:

Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has struggled to establish a regular starting 11 spot at Madrid and it is being reported that the Croatian playmaker could be lured back to the Premier League.

All fans of English football know exactly what this guy is about. He is a very intelligent player with great link-up play, brilliant on the ball, can find the final ball and finds almost impossible gaps in the oppositions defence. To add to that all Manchester United fans found out last year that he can finish as well.

Fabregas and Gundogan would both be great signings and if either cannot go through I would be more than happy for Modric to arrive at Old Trafford this summer.

Marouane Fellaini:

I don’t think we should forget just how good Fellaini was when he almost bullied United to secure an Everton when on the first game of last season. Ever since David Moyes arrived at Everton there has been speculation linking the Belgian midfielder with a move to join his former boss at Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old midfielder is strong, skilful, intelligent, and great in dispossessing opposition players and has an eye for goal. This would be the easy option for Moyes as he knows exactly what he’s getting and how to get the best from him.

I, however, do not feel he is what we need and doubt whether he could keep up with the pace that Manchester United play at. I cannot see this happening as David Moyes will have a very disgruntled set of fans to deal with as this is not the kind of marquee signing that they were promised.

I think it is safe to say that David Moyes has a huge decision to make and with this being his first signing it needs to be the right one or he could see himself being turned on by the Old Trafford crowd.

Fabregas would be a fabulous addition. He has everything that United are looking for and could be the replacement to Paul Scholes that we have all been waiting for. Barcelona’s reluctance to sell could however be a blessing in disguise as I feel that Gundogan would also be brilliant signing – if United sign either of these players I will be very happy with Modric being a ver good back-up option.

Now please get things moving Mr Moyes.

Manchester United make Fabregas bid

It has emerged today that Manchester United have made a bid to sign Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

The fee offered is said to be in the region of around £25million – coming just a day after Thiago Alcantara agreed to move to Bayern Munich from Barcelona.

This attempt to sign the fomer Arsenal captain has so many talking points I don’t know where to start.

After it was revealed yesterday that Thiago Alcantara is joining Bayern Munich, Manchester United fans must have been left wondering, why didn’t we make a bid? There are two possible explanations, one of which being David Moyes didn’t act quick enough and the second being that Moyes already had his eye on Fabregas. This bid was either done in desperation or was planned for some time.

If Thiago would have stayed at Barcelona I would say that this transfer had a chance of going through but I personally do not feel that Barcelona will let both players go in one transfer window. Xavi is now 33 and Fabregas appears to be the natural successor, I do NOT think that the Catalan giants are willing to lose two central midfielders in one window.

If Barcelona do agree to sell Fabregas – as he has struggled to win over the Barcelona fans – Manchester United would be instantly hit with a clause in Fabregas’ contract. Arsenal have first refusal on the Spanish Midfielder and if United have a bid accepted Arsenal would instantly get the option to buy him.

The only way that United could land the 26-year-old playmaker is to offer Barcelona a fee that Arsenal can not match and £25million is not only too low for Barca to accept but it is also low enough for Arsenal to match. I am fairly confident that given the choice, Fabregas would pick Arsenal over Manchester United.

Naive

I can only put this bid down to the naivity of the new Manchester United boss. David Moyes has never worked with such a big budget before and hasn’t done business with Europes top clubs before. I think this bid will get laughed out of the Nou Camp and will not go through.

Even if Barcelona are open to selling Fabregas, Arsenal will snap their former captain up before you can say ‘hijack’.

From the perspective of a Manchester United fan, this is very frustrating. Thiago appeared to be the perfect signing and don’t get me wrong Fabregas would be brilliant at Old Trafford but there is far too many factors standing in the way of this potential move.

There is a huge hole in United’s midfield and Moyes must target a realistic player to fill it.

Share your views below…

Thiago officially joins Bayern Munich – Are Manchester United in trouble?

The Thiago Alcantara saga is finally over, after weeks of speculation surrounding the 22 year-old Spaniard he has now agreed to move to German and European champions, Bayern Munich.

Manchester United have been strongly linked with the Barcelona man but they have now officially lost out on their man. It did appear at one point that Thiago was certain to sign for United as there is a huge Thiago shaped hole in their midfield alongside Michael Carrick. There are just two possible reasons for the midfielder not signing for Manchester United one of the is that they were out done by the German giants with the second explanation being that David Moyes never actually perused Thiago.

If Manchester United were simply out-done by Bayern then this looks very bad for the English champions. It is an indication that they no longer have the pull that they once had and that Bayern are now a superior force and this has to leave fans asking themselves, where do we turn to? and are the standards of our transfer targets lowering? These could potentially be worrying times for United fans.

I personally feel that Thiago has made an error in signing for Bayern as his chances will still be limited as he will be competing with the likes of Javi Martinez, Toni Kroos, Luiz Gustavo, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Götze for a first team place. If he had of signed for United he would have fit into the starting 11 alongside Michael Carrick with no real competition – I just feel that he will not find what he seeks in Germany.

It is quite clear that Manchester United are in desperate need of a central midfielder to partner the reliable Michael Carrick. Thiago appeared to be the perfect signing and either David Moyes has missed out on his man or he has another player in mind, perhaps PSV Eindhoven’s Kevin Strootman.

As good as Kevin Strootman looks I feel that now Thiago is not available – on top of Kevin Strootman – David Moyes needs to make a big signing to reassure United fans and to add more quality to the United squad.

The only way David Moyes can now justify not signing Thiago Alcantara is to sign big and the only two players big enough to cast a shadow over losing out on Alcantara are Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

The funds appear to be available as Moyes told Sky Sport News, “”Isn’t it great that the club says, ‘There’s no budget here, you go get who you want to get, just go and do it’.”

“I will not name anybody, but certainly we are always looking at the best players. I think we are trying to strengthen in a couple of areas. We are short in midfield.” – Moyes added.

I feel that now the only way for Moyes to win over the fans this transfer window is to sign Kevin Strootman as well as either Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale.

 

Tell me your views…

Thiago Alcantara to Bayern Munich?

 

The Spanish Under-21’s golden boy, Thiago Alcantara’s summer of speculation has taken another turn this week with Pep Guardiola publicly declaring that he wants to bring the midfielder to Bayern Munich.

Although all summer we have heard nothing from Thiago himself in regards to his future, reports are suggesting that the Italian born midfielder will reunite with Guardiola.

It does appear that now Manchester United and Bayern Munich will fight it out for the 22-year-old’s signature but which club will attract him more?

Looking at Bayern Munich, they are European and German champions with a squad that has only been improved by the arrival of midfielder Mario Götze and manager Guardiola. The draws to the German club for Thiago are first of all an opportunity to work with his former manager again. Pep Guardiola was a huge success and a very popular character at Barcelona. Secondly Thiago would be joining the best team in Europe and his chances of winning silverware would be very high.

There is however a reason why the Spaniard may not choose Bayern Munich. The reason that Thiago wishes to leave Barcelona is to gain more playing time but will he really be able to achieve this at Bayern Munich? 

With central midfielders such as Javi Martinez, Toni Kroos, Luiz Gustavo, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Götze to contend with Thiago could see himself still struggling to make the starting 11.

Now let’s look at what could bring him to Manchester United. First of all the opportunity to work with Spanish under-21 team mate and friend, David De Gea who left a message for Thiago on the match ball he received for scoring a hat trick in the European under-21 Championship Final. The Manchester United goalkeeper who cheekily wrote ‘Nos Vemos en Manchester’ which translates to ‘see you in Manchester’ would like to see the Barcelona midfielder come to Old Trafford.

Secondly, I feel that Thiago will be able to obtain more starting 11 opportunities at United. With Michael Carrick being the Red’s only consistent central midfielder in the starting 11, Thiago would slip straight into the first 11 and would probably be a key player. I feel that United need him more than Bayern and could offer him what he wants in terms of minutes on the pitch. 

Also after the Lucas Moura fiasco of last summer if United loose out on another top talent, the Old Trafford faithful will be very disgruntled and concerned.

 

Tell me what you think…

 

Thiago Alcantara move to United – a shift in power?

 

With the transfer of 22-year-old Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona to Manchester United looking more likely by the day, is this an indication of a change in power in European football? Or is he simply looking to use Old Trafford as a stepping stone to better things.

I am not naive enough to suggest that the current great Barcelona team are down and out but I feel that they are no longer the superior force that they have been over the last five years.

Over the last two seasons Chelsea and Bayern Munich have shown that Barcelona are not unplayable and moreover Bayern Munich showed that they can be thumped.

I believe that a certain level of complacency has creeped into the Barcelona side and the dynamic duo of Xavi and Iniesta were left wanting – something that also became apparent when Spain were demolished 3-0 by Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final.

Something else that was revealed in that game is that it appears Neymar is the huge talent that we were told he is. Neymar is obviously a fantastic player but when you have Lionel Messi as your number 10, do you really need Neymar? – who plays in the same position.

To me this is a typical move of one of the big two Spanish clubs. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona seem too concerned with bringing in a big name rather than assesing the players they have infront of them.

With Xavi now coming of age the Barcelona midfield needs a revamp – they need something fresh and new and it was there in the shape of Thiago all along. Thiago has obviously become frustrated with being over-looked and a move to Old Trafford looks imminent.

The footballing world was shown by Bayern Munich how to play against Barcelona and I can not see Neymar impacting on this too much. The driving force behind that great Barcelona team was the partnership of Xavi and Iniesta but now their formula has been exposed, Thiago could have been a breath of fresh air.

We could start to see more and more players chosing Premier League and Bundesliga teams over Barcelona as they will be garunteed more playing time and will be able to play with more creativity. Could this be the end of a domminant Barcelona?

The photo above is of Carles Puyol putting a Barcelona shirt on Cesc Fabregas whislt he was still an Arsenal player after Spain’s 2010 World Cup win.

This was an image that was seen around the world and was a blatant disrespect to Arsenal. If Manchester United are to sign Thiago Alcantara is this an image that we will be seeing again?

My only worry about United signing the Italian born- Spaniard is that he will one day ask for a return to the Nou Camp. We have seen both Fabregas and Pique use the Premier League as a platform to showcase their talents, develop and secure a deal back to their childhood club.

The worry is that Thiago would move to United, reach his peak and leave but United are not a selling club. Thiago would be brought in as a long term replacement for Paul Scholes – a legendary figure that played for Manchester United for 20 years. His replacement needs to be a player that stays for a number of years so I would say that one thing that needs to be ironed out before he signs is his commitment to the club.

If Thiago does sign and does stick around – with other young players such as De Gea, Jones and Rafael – United could be in place to domminate Europe themselves.

Tell me what you think.