A time comes when every legend at a club, whether big or small, has to make the transition from the superstar to the mentor. That time is rapidly approaching for Wayne Rooney at Manchester United, and is arguably the phase he is going through now. But who will fill his spot when he finally hangs up his boots for United and calls it a day?
Some will argue that the next superstar of the club is already there, in the form of summer signing, Anthony Martial. Even though the young man may not be scoring the number of goals that some pockets of the supporters would wish, it is extremely important that he be allowed the appropriate time to develop into the player that has, at times, shown his talent in the Premier League.
There have been times this season where Martial has shown outstanding skill and finesse to make multiple defenders look foolish, all within one run, and the finishing product has shown up at times as well. He is, without a doubt, a massively talented footballer and with time he will surely develop into a world class forward or winger, depending on the formation and philosophy of his future managers.
Another young footballer who has been, at times, touted as the next Manchester United superstar is the one wearing the famous number seven jersey, Memphis Depay. Memphis was able to start the campaign with some inspired performances on the wing, including the magnificent performances in the Champions League qualifiers against Club Brugge.
Since the early season, he has been able to show his quality only on a few occasions in what has been a disappointing debut season for the young Dutchman. However, as stated above with Martial, Memphis should be allowed the time to develop into the player that all United supporters hope he was showing in the Eredivisie.
Despite having young talent coming through the academy at a fairly rapid pace since Louis van Gaal has come to the club, supporters are growing impatient and feel the need to purchase a proven talent to ensure that there is no lack of European football in the immediate future of the club. There have, over the past three years, been a plethora of footballers associated with a move to Old Trafford, even though the club most likely had no interest in most of them. Many would be a wonderful fit for the club in terms of talent, and the philosophy of the club as well.
One of those names that has been associated with the club since shortly after last January transfer window is the English star currently lighting up the papers with Tottenham Hotspur, Harry Kane. Spurs will be wanting a massive lump of money for their golden boy, and rightly so, as he is turning into the main man in England’s future football set up.
Since 2009, he has been gradually improving with a total of 37 goals in 68 appearances for his current club, with 21 of them coming in the Premier League last season as he exploded onto everyone’s radar. But, will Tottenham be willing to sell him to anyone, let alone their English rivals? Any chance of signing Kane will require plenty of money, something United are growing more and more used to with every transfer window.
Another route that United could take in replacing Rooney is the one that they have done time and time again, and bring in youth prospects from their own system, and other clubs’ youth teams as well. The first name that would come to mind would be that of United youth product, James Wilson, who is currently out on loan at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Last season, under current manager Louis van Gaal, Wilson was awarded with 13 appearances for the senior squad in the Premier League and, despite only scoring a single goal, had an impressive work ethic and showed flashes of brilliance at times. The only downside is that he works best in a two-striker set up, which has been long been avoided, as van Gaal has opted to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation for the majority of his tenure. While at Brighton and Hove Albion this season he has been one of the frequently used names on their team sheet and has been able to bag three league goals in eleven appearances.
Another youth product who has shown flashes of talent for his respective club is that of Cauley Woodrow, who is currently under contract with Fulham of the Championship. Now, many might see this as a fairly outlandish claim to want an unproven, and currently injured, young striker. However, in the limited first team appearances Woodrow has seen for Fulham he has shown the London-based clubs supporters that they have something potentially special on their hands, that is until a bigger club swoops in for him.
Another upside that would come with signing him would be that he would cost a tiny fraction of the price of most other strikers, and also would come with little to no expectations to be a superstar. Both being cheap and lower expectations would allow him to move himself comfortably into the Under-21 team whilst getting substitute appearances for the senior squad in the meantime. Woodrow is also another young potential starlet that, like Wilson, plays well with a striking partner, and this could be the start of a great English partnership between the two in years to come.
The last youth name that should, and might already be, the main transfer target for the Red Devils is that of Olympique Marseille front man, Michy Batshuayi. He came out of the youth system of Belgian club, Standard Liege and while he was at the club showed off an impressive amount of skill as well as scoring 39 goals before heading to Marseille. Since signing for the Ligue 1 side he has impressed even more so in a much more competitive league, scoring 21 goals in 46 appearances for the club.
He has also been called up by the Belgian senior national squad and scored in both appearances, one of them being against Italy in an international friendly; the other against Cyprus. All of these impressive statistics, alongside the fact that he is an impressive physical specimen, should put him into consideration as a name United should look into signing.
If United are to go down the route that they have since van Gaal arrived in Manchester by spending lots on a big name, there are many candidates.
The first name, and most important, that should be mentioned, and one that every United fan would greet with open arms, is that of Robert Lewandowski. He is undoubtedly one of the hottest commodities in world football currently and could very well be the man that could single-handedly bring back the dangerous attacking-style football that Stretford End chants for every weekend.
After signing for Bayern Munich from league rivals, Borussia Dortmund, Lewandowski has had a world class striking rate of 36 league goals in 49 appearances. This prolific rate, coupled with the fact that Bayern aren’t strapped for cash is a dangerous combination that would lead to the Red Devils most likely spending more money on a single player than they ever have before.
