Date: 27th November 2012 at 8:22pm
Written by:

I could be forgiven in thinking it was the middle of summer when I woke up this morning.

No – it was not down to the lack of sunshine and flash flood warnings all over the news; it was more to do with Twitter being on the verge of imploding due to tabloid press claiming Manchester United are in the market for a midfielder.

With the likes of The Sun, Mirror and Telegraph all claiming Sir Alex Ferguson is going to make a £12m bid for Adel Taarabt of QPR, I wonder if we are entering into the winter version of silly season – or if in fact, these reporters might be on to something?

This is not the first time the Moroccan midfielder has been linked with United; and being that he is still young and possesses the type of skills most footballers can only dream of, it could be on the cards.

Saying that, he doesn’t always start for QPR, which begs the question, “How would he get anywhere near the United starting XI?”

Personally, if the price was around the £10m mark, I would have him. Scholes and Giggs cannot go on forever; Anderson and Carrick dip in and out of form – not to mention Young, Valencia and Nani, who are not exactly setting the world on fire with fine form.

Taarabt can play comfortably behind the striker, in the centre of midfield or off the wing – and can be a match winner on his day, so, for me, £10m would be a steal in comparison to Kleberson who was bought for £6.5m, Djemba-Djemba for £3.5m or fans’ favourite, Bebe who cost around £8m.

Taarabt is not the only player linked with a move to Old Trafford. Read below and check out my views on the other little gems from our media in recent weeks.

Leighton Baines

A solid performer for Everton with a frightening left foot. Probably the best dead ball specialist in the country yet I definitely do not want him at United as he runs like he has a fridge attached to him.

Verdict: Too slow. Do not sign.

Kevin Strootman

If rumours are to be true, Strootman has already signed for United and will join the reds in January. He is also going to lead Holland to World Cup success in 2014 and is to marry Miss World in 2017.

Verdict: I can think of better centre midfielders to waste money on.

Ashley Cole

Unlike everybody in the UK, I actually do not hate this guy. He cheated on media darling, Cheryl, but who cares? She is a clown. Good friend of Rooney and out of contract in the summer, I would have Ashley at United in a heartbeat.

Verdict: He may be a cretin, but at 31, he has four seasons at the top – so let’s make him our cretin.

Wesley Sneijder

Zzzzz.

Verdict: Bore off.

Wilfried Zaha

A very talented young footballer he is; but according to my Championship source, he drifts out of games for long periods of time and was never in a million years worthy of an England cap. Do we need another talented young striker?

Verdict:  Would be a pointless move for club and player.

Willian

One for those who invest a lot of time and effort in Football Manager. I signed Willian for my United team and he was a machine. 37 goals and 17 assists in his debut season. In real life, he looked the part against Chelsea in the Champions League – but realistically would he adapt to the English game?

Verdict:  He reminds me of Serhiy Rebrov, the Spurs legend. Need I say more?

Ryan Shawcross

Having let this boy go in 2005, why on earth would we want to bring him back? It isn’t quite the same love story as Cesc Fabregas and Barcelona is it?

Verdict: Wouldn’t get anywhere near our side when everybody is fully fit.

Victor Wanyama

Celtic have had an above average Champions League campaign and now all of their players are worthy of moves to big clubs? Righto. In the real world, Wanyama may have been part of a Celtic side which beat the greatest side to ever grace the earth, ever, ever, ever and forever and a day, Barcelona; but he was also part of a side who have lost to Kilmarnock and Inverness, who are rubbish.

Verdict: Moving to the Premier League from Scottish football is like coming from pub football, so please steer clear.

Robert Lewandowski

A natural goal scorer with great movement, pace and intelligence. However, it was a choice between him or Van Persie in the summer and we opted for the Dutch master.

Verdict: Great player but we made our choice. Could be costly in the future, though. Imagine if he was at Chelsea instead of Torres?

To reply directly, I am on Twitter: @NathonW

 For all United news, comment and opinion, please follow: @RFFH

 

16 responses to “Are Any Of These Players REALLY Coming To United?”

  1. Pre Munich Red says:

    Cole? He is an apologist for Terry and would cause untold unrest in the dressing room. It would be as bad as signing Suarez. Not a chance (I hope).

    • NathonW says:

      Unrest with who? Rio? He is big enough to forgive, forget and move on. Bare in mind he has known Cole since they were 11 years old.

      Plus Rio hasn’t even singed a contract yet – he may well shoot off to America to finish his career.

  2. Pre Munich Red says:

    Cole? He is an apologist for Terry and would cause untold unrest in the dressing room. It would be as bad as signing Suarez. Not a chance.

  3. tose says:

    wilian is a great player and he showed it against chelsea twice,,,so i wonder why you think he couldnt adapt in england,,,,but we have kagava in his position.. but willian would provide spacial flair…isnt this all about

  4. NathonW says:

    Adapt in terms of the rigors of the English games.

    Hence the comparison to Rebrov – looked great in Champions League but over here flopped massively!

  5. dooga8288 says:

    Baines too slow?! I dont think so mate. At least he’d be in the proper position when the opposition counter attack, or avoiding getting sucked into the centre far too often. The Evra problem has continually been a problem since the European Cup final in Rome and needs to be sorted soon because this guy has been a liability for us for too long now

    • NathonW says:

      I study his game often because I do think we will sign him, and he is incredibly slow.

      Evra is still good, but he isn’t the player of three years ago. We do not to make a change there.

  6. MW11 says:

    Why would we bother with Taarabt when we have Kagawa who is better and already in the team playing that position? Plus we have Powell who will be pushing for more games, not to mention other home grown youngsters who need game time.

    • NathonW says:

      Yes I agree we already have players in that department – but for £10m I think he would we a useful addition to the squad.

      Bare in mind £10m these days buys you a squad player, not a superstar who will start every week.

      • MW11 says:

        personally I think we have more than enough average squad players in midfield/attack (Rooney can also play that attacking mid position), we only need one genuine quality centre mid.
        Again I would much prefer to give games to promising United youngsters.

        • NathonW says:

          At 23 though, surely he is also a promising youngster?

          Powell looks good but with Scholes Giggs and to an extent Carrick all getting on a bit, there is room for additions.

  7. ColC says:

    Your comment about Wanyama is off the mark…while his recent form may have slumped, Jelavic’s performances at Everton have proved that the move from SPL to the Premiership can be a successful one. If we’re not at least considering Wanyama you can bet a number of other top sides will be.

    • NathonW says:

      Wanyama is what, 21? He has player around 50 games for Celtic and has been part of an above average Champions League campaign.

      He has also been playing against shocking opposition week in, week out in Scotland and Celtic have lost 3 games this season already to awful opposition.

      He may eventually become a great player and I do take your point about Jelovic, but for now he hasn’t done enough to receive this hype.

  8. ColC says:

    I’m not about to say Wanyama is the finished article yet, but of Utd’s recent purchases (aside from Van Persie) who is? He is the kind of player that fits in with Utd’s transfer policy in terms of being young and having potential.

    I’m surprised you’ve not mentioned Liam Miller to back up your argument though… 😉

    • NathonW says:

      Yeah I fully accept that he is a promising talent and the type we would go for – but I always feel uneasy when a player moves from the SPL. It is such a poor league.

      Ha ha Liam Miller. I tried to block him out of my mind. The new Roy Keane.

  9. trevor from Northwich says:

    The rumours wont seem to go away about Strootman. This player I would class to be not as good as Fletcher and I know what the Utd fans think of him. If the manager wants a holding midfielder there are three names to be considered. Bender of Bayer Leverkuson, Fellaini of Everton and Wanyama of Celtic. He should forget about anybody else.