The best options available to help freshen up the Old Trafford midfield.
Despite Manchester United’s Premier League title victory last season, many pundits suggested that the Red Devils midfield was below par. Although Michael Carrick had a good season, he can have off days and is getting into the twilight of his career anyway. With Paul Scholes retiring and Darren Fletcher still having health problems, David Moyes knows that he needs to strengthen his central midfield to get his first season as Manchester United boss off to a good start. Here are five players Moyes should target to improve the clubs midfield this summer.
Christian Eriksen- Ajax
Eriksen has been regarded for many years as one of the best young central midfielders in European football and Ajax manager Frank De Boer has created his team around the young Danish midfielder. Being able to play the perfect pass is one of Eriksen’s strengths and that has helped to make Ajax very easy on the eye. However, his time in the Netherlands looks to be up, with the coach of the Danish national team saying that it is time for the midfielder to leave the Dutch League and test himself in a more competitive country. Eriksen has been constantly linked with a move to the Premier League and Manchester United were known to be monitoring his progress last year. This year, reports have been quiet about United’s interest in Eriksen but that could soon change if the club continue to miss out on some of their more expensive targets.
Liverpool are known to be interested in signing Eriksen, with Brendan Rodgers thinking that the Dane’s style of play will suit his Liverpool team. However, should United enter the race, the Red Devils would have the money to blow Liverpool out of the water and can also offer Eriksen Champions League football, something he won’t get this season if he were to move to Anfield. The Dane only has one year left on his current contract at Ajax and it is unlikely that he will agree to a new one so Ajax are under some pressure to sell the player or risk seeing him leave for free next summer. The Dane could be exactly what United are looking for, a player who is able to control a game and someone who will get better as he gets older and as he gets suited to the Premier League. He could be available for just £15 million, a bargain compared to what United would have to pay for some players.
Yohan Cabaye- Newcastle United
Cabaye has been one of Newcastle’s most important players since he signed for the club for £4.5 million two years. The midfielder had an excellent debut season for the Magpies, helping to guide them to fifth place in the Premier League, just one spot off of a place in the Champions League. He didn’t have such a great campaign for Newcastle last season but he is still greatly admired. He is regarded as one of the best passes in the Premier League and that is certainly something that has been missing at Old Trafford since Paul Scholes started to wane at the heart of the Red Devils midfield. The Frenchman could also be available for a transfer this summer following a difficult season for Newcastle, in which the club came very close to being relegated from the Premier League.
It appears that the Frenchman would also be interested in a move to Manchester United, as he recently stated that he would like the opportunity of playing for the Premier League Champions. United are thought to be considering making a bid for Cabaye, believed to be in the region of £15 million. However, the Red Devils will face plenty of competition for Cabaye, with French clubs Paris St Germain and AS Monaco thought to be interested in bringing the player back to France. Although the midfielder would be interested in a move back his own country, if United came calling it would difficult for him to resist the opportunity of replacing a player like Paul Scholes. Cabaye is a player who can unlock a defence with one killer pass and that is something that many pundits have said United need if they are to win the Premier League this season. With the interest from clubs in France, United may have to act quickly if they are to sign Cabaye, who could well be an excellent replacement for Scholes in midfield whilst also being affordable at the same time.
Marouane Fellaini- Everton
Fellaini has been one of the Premier League’s most reliable performers ever since Everton signed him from Standard Liege for £15 million. That has certainly been money well spent for the Toffees, who have used Fellaini in a variety of different positions, from a deep lying defensive midfielder to an attacking midfielder who plays just off the striker. Due to his power and height, Fellaini is excellent at both attacking and defending set pieces and has scored many important goals for the club over the years. However, his excellent performances for Everton haven’t gone unnoticed and it seems that many of the Premier League’s top clubs will be making a move for Fellaini this summer. One of those could be Manchester United. David Moyes used to coach Fellaini at Everton and the pair enjoyed a good relationship at Goodison Park. Moyes could be hoping to be re-united with Fellaini now that he is at Old Trafford and he could certainly use a powerful midfielder like Fellaini to strengthen the Red Devils midfield. Due to his versatility, Moyes could give Fellaini any kind of role and the Belgian would fulfil it.
He would most likely be used as a box to box midfielder, someone who can run all day and carry the ball around the pitch. Due to him being such a physical presence, another midfielder would end up having the time and space to pick a pass and unlock a defence. However, other clubs are also interested in Fellaini, with Arsenal and Chelsea thought to be the biggest threats to United’s attempts at signing Fellaini. Both Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho see Fellaini as being exactly the type of physical player that they need to form a new look midfield around. Fellaini has a buy-out clause of £23.5 million in his contract and all three Premier League clubs are seriously considering activating it in order to try and bring the midfielder to their clubs. However, that clause in Fellaini’s contract expires in the middle of August and interested clubs would then have to pay around £30 million to sign Fellaini. It looks like clubs interested in signing Fellaini will have to move fast or risk missing out the midfielder altogether.
Luka Modric- Real Madrid
During his time at Tottenham Hotspur, Modric was regarded as one of the best creative midfielders in the Premier League, a midfielder who could open up defences with accurate passes that would get strikers like Jermaine Defoe into goal scoring positions, exactly the type of player that United are looking for. Interestingly, United were very interested in signing Modric at one point but were put off by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who didn’t want to let the player leave White Hart Lane. When Modric did leave Tottenham, their was only one place that he wanted to go and that was to Real Madrid, leaving Manchester United disappointed. However, Modric’s debut season in the Spanish capital hasn’t been a very happy one, with the midfielder struggling to get into the Los Blancos first team. The Croatian has plenty of competition for a place in the Real Madrid midfield, with Mesurt Ozil, Kaka and Xabi Alonso all trying to get on the clubs team sheet on a regular basis.
This has left Modric on the bench, not where he was intending to be after moving to Madrid. His disappointing first season at Madrid has led to speculation that the midfielder could be on his way back to the Premier League, where he was so successful only a year ago with Tottenham. Modric knows the Premier League inside out and would certainly be a success should he return. One of the many clubs that have been linked with Modric is Manchester United, with the midfielder being one of several players that David Moyes is looking to sign this summer. Due to his passing skill, Modric would be an ideal replacement for Paul Scholes and would certainly create a lot of chances for such strikers as Robin Van Persie and Xavier Hernandez (maybe even Wayne Rooney too, if he is still their).
Modric would certainly be interested in moving to a club like United and the fact that he would get regular first team football is likely to encourage him to make a move. However, Modric is a determined person and reports suggest that he would like another chance at getting in the Madrid first team. However, his hopes took a blow when the club signed Spanish midfield sensation Isco from Malaga, increasing the competition for places in the Madrid team still further. If he wants first team football, Modric may have to leave the Santiago Bernabeu and United would be more than happy to welcome him to Old Trafford.
Cesc Fabregas- Barcelona
The future of Cesc Fabregas at Barcelona has been one the biggest stories of the summer, with the player being Manchester United’s top transfer target for this transfer window. Moyes has identified Fabregas as the perfect player to be at the centre of a new look midfield and the Scot hopes to entice Fabregas to Old Trafford with the promise of first team football. The Spaniard joined Barcelona following a long and drawn transfer saga with Arsenal two years ago. The Gunners were desperate to keep their captain but Fabregas wanted to go back to his boy hood and that is exactly what happened. However, things haven’t gone quite to plan for Fabregas since he moved back to Catalonia, with the Spaniard struggling to hold down a regular place in Barca’s starting line-up. Fabregas has often been played out of position at the club, with Xavi and Andres Iniesta being preferred to Fabregas in his favoured central midfield position. After two years of playing out of position, Fabregas is known to be considering his Barcelona future, especially if he can’t get any guarantees from the clubs new manager about where he will be playing next season.
The World Cup is less than a year away and Fabregas desperately wants to be on the plane to Brazil with the Spanish squad. That may not happen if he is not playing regularly, a real possibility since the club recently signed Neymar from Santos for £48 million. So a move to Manchester United is on the cards and the Red Devils have already made two formal bids for the player. Their first bid was £25.9 million and that was rejected last week. The club then offered £30 million but that too was rejected. It is unknown whether United will up their bid even further, possibly going as high as £35 million.
Reports suggest that the Red Devils are willing to break their record transfer in order to land Fabregas and are confident that they will sign the player if Barcelona accept an offer. Fabregas would love to stay at his boyhood club and fight for his place but he knows that he is at the peak of his career and needs to be playing regular first team football. That may not happen if he stays at Barcelona and with United offering him regular first team football, he may decide to go back to England to fulfill his potential. Manchester United will be delighted if that happens.