According to Rumours, Manchester United are ready to offer £120 million to sign 25-year-old winger Gareth Bale, already the world’s most expensive footballer, from Real Madrid. One might want to call it just a rumour but rumours sometimes become realities. The question is: if it comes to pass, will it be the right way to spend £120 million?
Any club with Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie, Radamel Falcao, Juan Mata and Angel Di Maria as their top attackers should be happy with that. Manchester United are not short on attackers; instead it is their midfield and central defence that has to be strengthened. There are other ways to spend £120 million and strengthen the current squad.
It is no secret that Manchester United have had problems in central defence this campaign, one of the reasons being that there is no natural defence leader. Chelsea, for example, have John Terry and Manchester City have Vincent Kompany. These natural leaders of the back line make a big difference in the club. While playing Michael Carrick at the back can sometimes look good for Manchester United, he is certainly much more effective in midfield. If the club can spend £120 million for Bale, they should rather offer to pay between £40 – £50 million for Paris Saint Germain’s Thiago Silva to sort out the defensive problems. Another option for a centre back could be Mat Hummels, paying £35-45 million should be enough to lure the German away from Borussia Dortmund. With just about £50 million or so of that transfer fee, Manchester United could sort out many of their central defence issues.
The Red Devils need a strong robust defensive midfielder, a player that will liberate Carrick to play further up where he can pick his key passes, something he is the best at in the club. Since the era of Roy Keane the club have not really had his replacement. At a point Darren Fletcher was doing a good job in the role till his sudden ailment a couple of years ago. Manchester United are reportedly trying to sign Kevin Strootman from AS Roma and that would be a fantastic move if it happens. Recruiting the Dutch midfielder for a fee around £30 million should do the deal. Sami Khedira, another defensive midfielder who can fill that void, is set to leave Real Madrid in the summer. It would not be a bad move to cash in on him to fill the void in providing cover for the defence. Another option would be to sign Gustavo from Wolfsburg should the club fail to sign Strootman or Khedira. The Brazilian should be costing just about £20-25 million. The Brazilian has played at the top level of football and can do a good job at a big club..
Maybe the manager at the helm of affairs, Louis van Gaal wants to sign a winger and the Welsh man is his first option. Imaging pricing Marko Reus away from any other club by paying as much as £40-50 million for his services. Reus is versatile in attack, he play can play behind the strikers and on both wing, to his advantage he is very much two footed.
The very simple point I want to make is this: Instead of paying so much for Gareth Bale which will not solve most of the problems, the club could spend £120 million on number of quality players and solve many more problems at hand. Having said this Gareth Bale to any club will be a great addition. Now all we can do is sit back and watch how the rumours unfold.
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