United: Europe's Spurs
Wed Jul 01 08:48AM
Sighs of relief all round at Old Trafford, then. For a minute it looked like Manchester United might not be able to field a full team next season, and would have to recruit some 13-year-old ringers from the local park.
But now they have splashed £16 million on Antonio Valencia (pictured). Who cares whether he is the right player? He's a player. And given the summer they have had so far, United will be grateful to get anybody on board.
It is the kind of signing that must make Arsene Wenger pound his fists in that ineffective way of his. The Arsenal boss and his scouts comb the world for emerging talents in the hope of landing a bargain. United just wait until a player is good, then they buy him.
A couple of
years ago, Wigan signed Valencia
for a fraction of the price they received from United. But having just had £80m
dumped into their bank account in exchange for Cristiano Ronaldo, does it
really matter if United overpay by £10m or so?
He might lack Franck Ribery's X-factor, but Valencia is quick, skilful and young, and Fergie knows he can do the business in the Premier League.
It is roughly the same price United paid for Serbian duo Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajic, and less than they paid for Nani.
So a winger with a proven record of success in the Premier League seems like no bad thing - but then you have to be a certain kind of club to compensate for £32m of shaky spending by splashing out another £16m.
United are the big fish of the Premier League, snapping up Valencias, Carricks and Berbatovs from their smaller rivals.
But English football's great white shark encounters a blue whale of a club when it comes to dealings in Europe.
Real Madrid have already sucked Ronaldo from their clutches like just another piece of plankton, and are now busy hoovering up all United's main transfer targets.
Curiously, English 'giants' struggle to sign players who have already established themselves as world-class. Is it the weather? Is it the prospect of getting kicked by Joey Barton? Or is it that top stars hate Richard Keys?
Whatever the reason, United find it difficult to compete for those blue riband players. They are to Real Madrid what Tottenham are to them. And given Tottenham's status as a frequent laughing stock in the transfer market, that's not a good thing for Fergie.
Most of his major signings involve bringing players of obvious quality to a bigger club (Valencia, Wayne Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy), or taking expensive punts on talented youngsters who may or may not be the next great thing (Ronaldo, Anderson, Nani).
But it seems that when faced with competition from La Liga's giants, United are unable to land that big catch (yes, broken metaphor alert - the clubs have just morphed from fish into fishermen).
Back in 2003 Ronaldinho snubbed United to join a Barcelona side that had just finished sixth, and this summer Ribery, David Villa and Karim Benzema appeared to go off limits as soon as Real Madrid expressed an interest.
Benzema might yet end up at Old Trafford, but only if Real decide they don't want him. He will be the scrawny trout that Florentino Perez chucks back into the river.
Even though the Premier League is demonstrably the strongest domestic competition in the world, its top clubs still lack the same allure as a transfer destination as Madrid, Barcelona or even Milan.
Still, ED suspects United will survive, especially with the £16m outlay being widely seen as just the starter for 10 of an epic spending binge.
Contrast United's largesse with Burnley, who yesterday splashed out a club record £3m fee to bring in Steven Fletcher from Hibernian.
Although Fletcher's record of one goal per three games in the SPL hardly suggests a world-class talent, he is almost certainly a more significant signing than Valencia.
While Valencia becomes just another component of a 30-man squad - virtually interchangeable with Park Ji-Sung or Nani - Fletcher's performances could very well determine whether or not Burnley survive in the top flight.
If Fletcher fails, Burnley cannot just conjure more money to sign another striker - they are stuck with what they have.
Fletcher might be the most important purchase Burnley ever make. Nobody is going to say that about Valencia and
United.
- - -
QUOTE OF THE DAY: How I was tapped up on multiple occasions then screwed more
money out of my club then ignored my wife's
wishes, by Nemanja Vidic: "My wife Ana is unhappy with our lifestyle in
Manchester but I am not going to change my mind as I am happy with the team and
Manchester and the club's ambitions
for next season. I got offers from Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid
and I played a very honest game - I disclosed all these offers to my boss Sir
Alex. He reacted quickly. I was told he was raising my pay to bring it to the
level where my reputation is in the Premier League and Europe.
After Milan
and Real Madrid made their offers, Barcelona
came in - they wanted to pay 30 million euros for my services but after Sir
Alex's move, I am definitely staying
in Manchester
until my contract expires in 2012. I don't care that I will still not be paid as much as my
good friends Rio Ferdinand or Wayne Rooney but I guess I will be at the same
level as Berbatov and Carrick."
COMING UP: It's a belting line-up the Wimbledon quarter-finals, while on a football note the proper Jim White (not the abovementioned irritatingly enthusiastic one) will be dropping some pearls of wisdom.
First
From nyachdutoit on Wed Jul 01 08:53AMMorning all, decent signing for the mancs but defo no ronaldo
From dobbiemcallister on Wed Jul 01 08:55AMMonkey
From dean_stamford on Wed Jul 01 08:57AMArmadillo
From dean_stamford on Wed Jul 01 09:03AMDon't forget another player who took the money instead of playing for United, one Alan Shearer. Not quite the same telling the grandkids how much money you earned as getting a cupboard full of medals out for them to play with!!
From andy_lycett on Wed Jul 01 09:08AMActually Arsenal is Europe's Spurs.
From nasopene on Wed Jul 01 09:11AMActually Arsenal r Europe's Spurs.
From nasopene on Wed Jul 01 09:12AMmore like white elephants dean
From scrubbertheman on Wed Jul 01 09:12AMwhy SAF dont go shopping in Brazil or argentina.. so many talents there...
From kogn1 on Wed Jul 01 09:14AMdean, you are way wrong, Um Bongo was made by a Hippo a marmoset and many other animals!!
From andy_lycett on Wed Jul 01 09:16AMJim White comes in for far too much abuse in ED.
He is THE most entertaining thing on Sky Sports News!
From lonzuk on Wed Jul 01 09:26AMreal madrid were after valencia but he came to us so most of ED' comments can be ignored now.. the reason why utd and real were after this guy is that he can shoot, he can defend and he can play on either wing, will he score as many as ronaldo?... nope... will he be better for the team hell yes becasue he is a team player... can valencia inter change with nani as ED suggests, no because all nani can do is go forward, like ronaldo and now ronaldo is gone nani may get his chance... valencia is a great buy, bring in benzema are utd are good and now nani can play and be allowed to go forward, untill ronaldo scored 45 goals a year ago reporters like ED said alot of nonsence about him not being the player he could be, will ya be changing y tune about nani in year to come.. dam i hope so.
From kirstyrixom on Wed Jul 01 09:28AMAndy, don't go there!!! Do you remember Hai Karate??
From edgar_friendly on Wed Jul 01 09:30AMArsenal are not even trying to be europe's spurs
From daskalov_emil on Wed Jul 01 09:31AMkogn1
SAF always shops in Brazil and Argentina, SAF has just brought a centre back and loaned him out all ready, obviously brought the twins a few year back and is keeping tabs on 1 or 2 more from Brazil and Argentina. I read an article the other day where people over there are getting fed up with him lolFrom postmanpatcan on Wed Jul 01 09:32AMYeah it stank vile
From annieh97 on Wed Jul 01 09:33AMThis article has a point in terms of United not being able to get certain players over the likes of Madrid and Barcelona depending on player. However that depends on what style the player in question prefers. For example I couldnt have seen Ronaldinho back then go for United when Barcelona suits him better and maybe the likes of Ribery and Benzema the same. It is a difficult situation for certain players especially midfielders to adopt to the English game and they know this based on watching the games and their agents and experts telling them so. As briefly mentioned in the article in the english game the tackles are hard and the game is fast and furious also the seemingly endless fields. However in Spain and Italy the game is slower at times and more technical. This is a midfielder's and forward's dream. The midfielders have more time on the ball and the forwards dont have to run very far. So depending on their style they would prefer a top spanish club or a top italian club over the likes of Man U.
Man United are a top club a brand known all over the world just like Real Madrid and Barcelona, all have seen the best of the best there just like any other top club... they arent feeder clubs like most clubs and neither club has problems keeping their players. You could say Man U battled to keep ronaldo...however it is worth pointing out that Ronaldo from day one always said he would like to go to Real Madrid his fav team, who wouldnt want to go to their fav club since they knew about the game?
So United always knew this and always prepared for his departure.Giggs and Scholes have always wanted to play for and love Man United so they would never leave, same could be said about xavi and iniesta about barcelona, I cant ever see them leaving either.
So again ..it depends on the player and his style (in some cases his agent) that would snub a move to United or anywhere else for the matter.From sivirtue on Wed Jul 01 09:36AMNot as nice as "Denim, for the man that doesn't have to try too hard!!"
From andy_lycett on Wed Jul 01 09:37AMIn fact it smelt just like Jim White's article last week he needs a vacation (a long one) then go back to commentating on the snooker - can't wait to see what tripe he serves up today
From annieh97 on Wed Jul 01 09:37AMWho was a 'Splash it all' guy?
From annieh97 on Wed Jul 01 09:44AMpathetic article attempting to fill some space ..comparing united to spurs is ignorant at best...sir alex does the job and in him we trust as usual...glory glory man united!
From stuartxland on Wed Jul 01 09:50AMAfter reading Comment #13, I understand why the majority of real football fans laugh in the face of most United fans!
From who_are_ya_85 on Wed Jul 01 09:55AMSay if i'm wrong, but i reckon SAF should get Ronaldinho, his careers flagged almost to a stand-still but SAF with his persuasive powers could revive a world beater, 10m would be a fair price. Thoughts please.....
From leebarringtonhearsavers on Wed Jul 01 09:55AM21-That would be Sir Kevin Keegan and Sir Enry Cooper
From andy_lycett on Wed Jul 01 09:57AM24-I know your cousin jamesbarringtonspecsavers!
From andy_lycett on Wed Jul 01 09:59AMI think Uniteds inability to land/keep hold of the very best is down to 3 factors
1 - as indicated in this article. The game in England is fast and more physical. If you are a world class forward are you going to want to have some donkey defender kicking lumps out of you.
2 - Location : Are you going to play in the mice climate/city of Barca, Madrid, Milan or London or are you going to head up to Manchester.
3 - The other teams. While there are a lot of high profile games in England, there are a lot of wet wednesday night games against the likes of Hull.
From tonyenglish on Wed Jul 01 10:01AM23 - yeah Kev, didn't you know that any player that goes to Utd is always the best player that was available? And obviously much better for the team than the bloke that has just left who many 'so called experts' would class as one of the best on the planet. He can't be, c an he? Or he'd still be at Utd obviously.
From danny_saks on Wed Jul 01 10:02AMWon nothing and signing the best players how does that work MONEY thats how go Madrid spend @#$% loads of dosh and end up with expensive flops one again.haha
From keithjoneskj on Wed Jul 01 10:04AM27 - you forget the main reason that has already led to players like Arshavin wanting away already. Money. The 50% tax bracket is a real killer.
From danny_saks on Wed Jul 01 10:06AMjust to say ronaldinho didnt snub united for barca, fergie didnt want to spend an extra 2 mil!!!!!!!!!!!
From phil_willcox_2001 on Wed Jul 01 10:07AM
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