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.
Recently, I discovered a hot place – SeekTall Co m -- where many sexy tall singles who like sports and chatting there. I'm an open minded girl from UK, I also like discuss sports and love with tall guys on it.
From winluney01 on Wed Jul 01 10:07AMRecently, I discovered a hot place – SeekTall Co m -- where many sexy tall singles who like sports and chatting there. I'm an open minded girl from UK, I also like discuss sports and love with tall guys on it.
From winluney01 on Wed Jul 01 10:08AMyour going to win F**k ALL LMFAO. More chance of seeing mihael jackson moon walking at wembley stadium
From srichardson1963 on Wed Jul 01 10:10AMSorry for the delay, just spent 10 minutes in recovery after seeing Ronaldinho valued at 10m. 26 - PMSL!!!
From edgar_friendly on Wed Jul 01 10:10AM26 Lol Morning all. Rubbish artical again
From saschavanpraagh on Wed Jul 01 10:13AM'Proven success' ha! he scored 3 goals all season for Wigan, thats fantastic fergie sign some more. Fergie is losing it!
From andrewconnolly on Wed Jul 01 10:15AMDid someone mention Andy Murray being Welsh?????
From edgar_friendly on Wed Jul 01 10:19AMWhat a load of @#$% this article is. 3/10 Very poor. See me!
From pauljudd6 on Wed Jul 01 10:19AMThat was very poor article. Its so obvious ED hates Man U and loves Liverpool.
If it was just an ordinary blog - it doesnt matter. But since its on Eurosports, its not profecional.
How can you say signing of Tosic and Adem Ljajic is shaky transfer, since the second one is 17 yeards old and they arrived just 4 months ago.
Its just not serious. ED - somethimes you are so childish.
From liophy on Wed Jul 01 10:23AMAndy Murry is a Scot, so he isn't English. Screw him. I hope he loses.
From eliotot on Wed Jul 01 10:23AMDanny: Obviously! Manchester United have not been snubbed byt anybody.The transfer window only opened at Midnight. The press speculation about Riberty, Benzema and Villa is just that; Speculation. Ribery is not going anywhere according to his club's president, Villa wants to play in Spain 'cos he knows the Prem is harder than La Liga and Benzema if he does come to Old Trafford will, like Valencia be a good buy for the future. I can only think of two clasds players who genuinely turned United down, Shearer and his fellow geordie Gascoigne! As for the wantaways, they have always been around, remember Johnny Giles, Gordon Strachan, Paul Ince! United didn't miss any of them.
From redgeoff on Wed Jul 01 10:24AMAs usual its about money and women, Would you like to walk around Madrid, Barcelona or Milan with a bevy of beauties on your arm enjoying the sunshine or traipsing around The Trafford centre in the rain with a Wag ? football doesnt come into it, there all mercenaries trying to screw as much money out of the game while they can, Just look at the way Samuel Etoo is behaving at the moment, 250 grand a week plus part of the transfer fee. Greedy @#$%.
From steve.hyde on Wed Jul 01 10:27AMGood place for all big and tall singles, please check: ---Tallconnect Co M ---- ,More fun waiting for you...
From summerleee22 on Wed Jul 01 10:30AMWhat a load of of old codswallop this article is ... Yes, I'm a manu fan but also to say that EPL clubs cannot attract the best, well now I have heard it all ... I'll just go and ask Torres/Van Persie/Essien if they lost there way to Madrid!! We bought Ronaldo for £12m and sold him for £80 ...I wouldn't call that suckin him away or Kaka ... I call that a desperate club trying to buy La Lia from Barcelona ... Barca have a fiscal policy like Manu (based on Manu) to bring youngsters through and where necessary buy the best possible ... What Ronaldo doesn't have now is a Rooney ... Still fancy Barca there ... As for Valencia look at his stats and like others he will improve at TOD's ... Cheers Frank
From franklang on Wed Jul 01 10:31AM"United just wait until a player is good, then they buy him" What the hell is that comment? You think a team like Utd, or any Premier League team will buy a player that is rubbish and see if he's any good? In fact, Utd bring in young players and MAKE THEM! Beckham, Scholes, Neville.. RONALDO!! Ugh.. let's hope this new Valencia signing is a good one, and we MAKE HIM!
From han_selecta on Wed Jul 01 10:33AM42 - spoken like a true unbiased Utd fan Geoff! Well done!
Seriously tho, we'd all love to see the very best players come to the Prem wouldn't we? It just happens to be Real's time. They have a history of lying dormant for a few years building up assets and then have one big splurge on building a team of Galacticos. Teams like Man Utd will just have to ride it out.
From danny_saks on Wed Jul 01 10:34AMSouthern hemisphere players and Southern Europe players generally want to play in Spain first, then maybe Italy. This makes sense from a language / weather point of view. And why slag people off when they follow good weather? Don’t we go to Spain for holidays or retirement or whatever! English players and Northern Europe players generally want to play in England. French and German players don’t seem to have a preference.
The best players in the world at the moment are either Spanish, Portugeuse, Brazilian or Argentinian so obviously they probably play (or want to play) in Spain. If the best players were English then theyd be playing in England. Making Utd out to be some sort of Madrid feeder team ignores the fact that Beckham, Van Nistelrooy and Heinze were sold on Fergie's orders, much like Stam beforehand. CRonaldo is the only one to have forced his own transfer.
As for the players currently mentioned, Villa doesn’t want to leave Valencia, let alone leave Spain so Utd had NO chance of ever getting him. Ribery has done France and Germany so Spain is the logical choice for something different. And he doesn’t like English weather, well he doesn’t have to. Benzema might well go to Utd but he already said he wanted to stay at Lyon for another year. If he does go to Utd, it wont be because Real let him go, itll be because Utd offered the most money to Lyon and the best wage deal.
And finally, Barcelona outbid Man Utd for Ronaldinho - he didnt opt for them. PSG sold to the highest bidder. But dont let facts get in the way of the story. The 50% tax rate will make it harder for ALL English teams with the exception of Man City to pay competitive net wages.
From annieh97 on Wed Jul 01 10:38AMPosts 32 & 33 - I bet I've found a hotter place!!!!
From edgar_friendly on Wed Jul 01 10:38AMPoint is, man utd are still better than real madrid, man utd are and always have been about team play (the united triangle etc.), real madrid is 11 individual entertainers, they should open a circus, i would pay to see it because they have quality players, but in the champions leauge you can see they lack what it takes to make a proper team, barcelona have that and thats why i tip them to win the leauge.
From loafer_11 on Wed Jul 01 10:42AMPeople should stop comparing players. Ronaldo went to United to fill the shoes of Beckham and ended doing it better than Beckham. Who knows in time to come Valencia may prove better than Ronaldo. Last season Ronaldo was giving balls away too often and his flicks were not really clicking. He scored about 1 free kick for about 5 others wasted. Only God is irreplaceable!
From gabominyi on Wed Jul 01 10:42AM49 Annie has spoken, wew can all go home now!
From saschavanpraagh on Wed Jul 01 10:42AMLOL what a ridiculous article.......the 50% tax is a big factor, as clubs already having to pay over the odds have to pay even more to greedy players, and man city are the only ones who want to do that! mentioning carrick and berbatov is a cheap swipe at spurs as they received massive bids for the pair of them, i mean 18.75 for carrick and nearly 32 for berbatov.......i mean who is laughing now!?
From gecko_twister on Wed Jul 01 10:44AMlol Sascha Im after a job after all Id love one where you can type @#$% everyday and get paid for it
From annieh97 on Wed Jul 01 10:55AMED is all negative about Arsenal can you piz give us a break.
From mapsnyika on Wed Jul 01 10:58AMUnited, Liverpool and Arsenal (alright, and Chelsea then) are all clubs with great pedigrees, (mostly) good management and coaching setups and a high level of success at home and in Europe. They compare very well over the past 15 years with so-called "greats" Real, Barcelona, AC & Inter Milan, Bayern Munich etc who are far more guitly of trading on their past glories (Barcelona aside, who are a very good club and team by comparison).
But faced with life in Britain compared to Spain, there is no contest. £150,000 a week at 50% tax, red brick house that gets robbed every time you play away, massive car and road tax, snotty, vindictive and jealous local populations who key your car just for daring to own one?? (I could go on).
I am not a bit surprised that when the money gets waved about, players choose Southern Europe. Even the Chavviest lowlifes with a bit of cash to spend have clicked that getting a place in Spain is better than London or Cheshire. We might as well admit that problem isn't money, or football or trophies. It's us.
From pruzie on Wed Jul 01 11:04AMAre any of you guys hopping on a plane to go and see MJ in his Snow White glass coffin tomorrow?
From annieh97 on Wed Jul 01 11:21AMCan people stop writing dissertations, pithy posts please.
From andy_lycett on Wed Jul 01 11:28AMbetter to have pithy posts than pithy knickerth!
From andy_lycett on Wed Jul 01 11:29AMlol Andy my hand has been slapethed
From annieh97 on Wed Jul 01 11:31AM49 - Annie, you forgot to mention that the Argentinian/Brazilian players also go to Spain or Portugal leagues for a couple of years to 'earn' Spanish/Portugese passports, so that they can enjoy even more freedom of trade for their future. England/UK doesn't afford them that, so it stands to reason why South American players do that.
I'm not sure the 50% tax rate is as big an issue as it is made out to be. Wages being offered at the moment seem to invariably 'after tax', although if I were CRon / Kaka / Ribery / Benzema, I know where I would rather spend my life.
Now Annie, it's YOUR turn to breathe!!!
From edgar_friendly on Wed Jul 01 11:31AM
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