Manchester United are inching closer to making Antonio Valencia their first signing of the summer.
The Wigan winger has cut his summer break short to try and complete his move to Old Trafford.
And the £16million deal is expected to be confirmed this week as Sir Alex Ferguson begins the task of spending the world record £80million fee United have just banked for the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.
They hope Valencia, who scored just three Premier League goals last term, might be able to replicate the pace and dribbling ability of Ronaldo. However, getting anywhere near his goals output might be far more difficult, a factor emphasised at the JJB Stadium last month when the Ecuador flyer missed a sitter in the defeat to United.
Certainly most United fans - and probably Ferguson himself - would be disappointed if there were not further signings by September 1 given the problems he is juggling with.
As well as Ronaldo, the loss of Carlos Tevez, seemingly bound for rivals Manchester City, leaves another gap.
Karim Benzema has been touted as a potential replacement but has already given vibes he may prefer to go elsewhere, and even then in another year's time.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is another option but the Dutchman is more of a Ruud van Nistelrooy-type figure and Ferguson has been building his teams in a different way of late.
At the back of Ferguson's mind will also be the knowledge Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar are all preparing for what is expected to be their final season of top-flight action, with Gary Neville not far behind.
Twelve months ago, United appeared to have the replacements in place but doubts have emerged over Nani, Anderson and Ben Foster, leaving Ferguson with more big decisions to make. There are further question marks over midfielder Owen Hargreaves, who is hoping to return from two years wrecked by a tendinitis problem, and record signing Dimitar Berbatov, who was inconsistent in his debut season.
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I can't say i have watched Valencia a lot this last season but if he is as good as it is reported then i am sure ferguson as watched him many times and will have decide a long time ago,as Andy t as said Fergie doesn't do much without more than one plan and potential buys would have been decided as well in case he doesn't get the first choice.If it's Valencia,Benzema or Ribery i'm sure they will all add something to the team in terms of quality.
In addition to strikers, United do need two classy and athletic midfielders. As this article implies, Giggs and Scholes are now beyond competing consistently at the levels required of Premiership players and serious efforts to get replacements now is imperative if we are to continue the United success story.
well said andy t
it is appearing to look not so good for united but as i've stated so many times, fergie will always have a plan,b,c and d....i'm not sure about valencia if you look at his stats from last season he has come fairly close to ronaldo apart from the goals, which of course is major considering he has become the top scorer for united for the last 2 seasons and he is mainly a winger, yes fergie has put him up front quite a lot but his natural place is on the wing, so imo we need a striker / poacher like the likes of rush who knows where to be in the area when the ball comes in, a good header of the ball, berbatov is tall, but has not scored many with his head if any at all....and as the united fans are already panicking about who the devils are bringing in, typical as united are it will be a last thing deal with someone, like berbatov was last season, which is exciting but also nerve racking for the fans, so come on guys lets get fully behind our team
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