Should Rafa make a bid before it’s too late?

Football - Stoke City v Middlesbrough Barclays Premier League

Sir Alex Ferguson could thwart Liverpool’s interest in former Manchester United central defender Ryan Shawcross by taking him back to Old Trafford.
The United manager is aware Liverpool have been in contact with Stoke City about the 21-year-old Chester-born six-footer and is keeping a close watch on developments.
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But the Merseysiders’ hopes of signing Shawcross were dashed when they discovered United had retained first refusal on any possible future deal involving the player, who first joined Stoke on a six-month loan in August 2007.
The deal was made permanent in the following January when Stoke agreed to pay £1million with a further million if they achieved promotion.
Since then Shawcross’s value has soared after impressive performances helped them consolidate their Premier League status last season. (Mail on Sunday)

This is interesting to say the least but could well just be a bit of a non-story from this source. Rafa does appear to have some interest in Shawcross, who scored yesterday and kept a clean sheet (well worth adding to your Fantasy Football team!), but as yet hasn’t made a bid for the young centre back.

Would United re-sign their former player simply to stop Liverpool from doing so, I think that is unlikely and then you have to decide if you think that Sir Alex needs another centre back and I don’t think that he does. He has Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Jonny Evans in terms of out and out first team options but can also call upon the likes of Wes Brown, Gary Neville or John O’Shea, all able to cover if needed.

Do we need another centre back ourselves? Well we could do with cover that’s for sure and given the potential displayed by the Stoke City man, I would say he is well worth putting a bid in for.

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