Old Trafford side ready for significant squad shake-up.
Man United boss David Moyes is preparing moves to conduct a significant squad re-shuffle after being given the financial backing of the Old Trafford board to make moves to bid for a trio of talents.
CaughtOffside understands that Moyes is especially keen to strengthen his back-line and will make a fresh offer for Everton full-back Leighton Baines in the January transfer window.
Moyes is ready to offer £20m for the 28 year old and will look to the England man to force the issue by issuing a transfer request. Having already lured Marouane Fellaini from his former club the Man United manager may well be confident of repeating the trick with Baines, who is well aware that a high profile move in January could aid his push to push ahead of Chelsea’s Ashley Cole for the starting left-back berth in Roy Hodgson’s England World Cup squad.
Moyes sees Baines as a superior option to current first choice left-back Patrice Evra, who’s form over the past 18 months perhaps hasn’t been up to the veteran’s usual high standards.
Man United will also look to make a big money offer for highly rated FC Porto centre-back Eliaquim Mangala with the 22 year old looking likely to become the latest talent to be sold on for a hefty profit by the Estadio Dragao side.
The French international is seen as a strong defensive option with a bright future and Moyes appears ready to freshen things up at the back following the less than glorious run of displays by veteran Rio Ferdinand and injury prone Serbian Nemanja Vidic.
Mangala is a much coveted commodity at present with a number of sides pursuing the former Standard Liege man following a rock solid season at the Estadio Dragao last term which saw the 22 year old help the club to a domestic title having conceded just 14 goals in 30 Primeira Liga fixtures.
Moyes will also look to address the lack of steel in the centre of his side by scouting Real Madrid’s Sami Khedira. The Premier League side have been monitoring the German international for some time and have been given encouragement from the player’s representatives that suggest that the tough tackler would be open to a move to join Man United.
The 26 year old has reportedly been saddened by the departure of good friend Mesut Ozil, who left to join Arsenal in the summer, and doesn’t feel indispensable under new boss Carlo Ancelotti especially since the Italian spent big to bring in Asier Illarramendi as direct competition for his starting spot.
Man United could certainly do with more grit and determination in their midfield though the addition of Marouane Fellaini did to some extent address the lack of steel in the Old Trafford side.
Real Madrid may well be open to offers for the former Stuttgart man as they look to balance the books after spending over £130m on new signings over the summer.
Though David Moyes will be backed with a fairly decent transfer budget the former Everton manager is keen to clear space for new arrivals and top of his list of talents he hopes to secure decent funds from a potential sale is out of favour winger Ashley Young.
The 28 year old England international has struggled for form throughout his time at Old Trafford and now boss David Moyes is looking to find a buyer for the former Aston Villa man but could perhaps be open to sending Young out on a loan deal in January so as to use such a move as a potential ‘shop window’ to aid a permanent sale.
Young is on a lucrative £110k a week contract and Man United are perhaps keen to have his salary wiped off the balance sheet to such an extent that they will listen to cut price offers for a player who cost £17m a little over two years ago.
Moyes has publicly slammed Young’s diving antics and has only handed three Premier League starts thus far this season and may feel that the lack of first team action could hamper his chances of being named in Roy Hodgson’s England squad for next summer’s World Cup finals squad and a move to join the Saints could perhaps offer the attacker the chance to garner regular first team football.
Young faces competition for a Man United spot from the likes of Danny Welbeck, Luis Antonio Valencia, Wilfried Zaha and youngster Adnan Januzaj.
Ashley Young has gone an amazing 24 Premier League games without a goal.
David Moyes is also looking to sell Brazilian midfielder Anderson and Man United are ready to take a big hit on the £20m paid to FC Porto back in 2007.
The 25 year old has flatted to deceive for the past couple of seasons and has battled for fitness and weight issues and has thus far this season started just two of Man United’s eight Premier League fixtures and was subbed on both occasions.
There is though to be some interest from his native Brazil as well as from the Portuguese Primeira Liga whilst Everton have also been linked with a move to sign the Man United bit part player.
Mexican international Javier Hernandez is another who will be made available for sale in January.
The 25 year old has struggled to retain a foothold in the Man United first team ever since joining the club three years ago and his chances of making an impact under David Moyes have been even more limited with the Old Trafford boss handing the lethal finisher just one Premier League start thus far this season.
With Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck all ahead of Chicharito it appears that the Guadalajara born forward could well be considering his future and apparent interest from Tottenham may tempt Hernandez.
Hernandez stated about his future at the Premier League title holders;
“I know my performance on the pitch will allow me to achieve that goal [first-team football] some day either here [in Manchester] or elsewhere for any other club. I just need to be given more opportunities to showcase what I can do.”
Under Sir Alex Ferguson the Guadalajara born forward managed 42 Premier League starts in three seasons, still racking up a thoroughly laudable 33 domestic league goals in the process.
Though Hernandez is still tied down to a long term deal Man United may well consider offers for his services, especially if Wayne Rooney is to remain at the club. That said it may prove tough to convince David Moyes to sell the striker to a direct Premier League rival.
Hernandez has made a total of 122 appearances for Man United since joining the club in July 2010, 49 of which came from the bench, scoring 51 goals in the process.
Another player David Moyes feels he can afford to offload is Japanese international Shinji Kagawa who has proven something of a disappointment since moving to Man United last summer.
Moyes has barely used 24 year old midfielder Kagawa this term, the former Borussia Dortmund man starting just one Premier League fixture, and the Kobe born attacker could feel the time is right to consider his options.
In his two seasons at Borussia Dortmund Kagawa netted 29 goals and helped the club to back to back Bundesliga titles but he has been unable to hit those heights in the English top tier.