And so we’ve reached the end of another season and although the transfer rumour mill has been tipping away nicely in the last few months, we can expect it to go into overdrive as soon as the transfer window opens.
Over the next few days, I thought it might be useful to take a look at next season’s teams in the Barclays Premier League and see what areas they need to strengthen in and what players are now surplus to requirements. We’ll start with the recently crowned champions, Manchester United and the runners up from the King’s Rd in West London, Chelsea…
Manchester United
In
Luka Modric:
With today’s confirmation that Paul Scholes is to hang up his boots, it is imperative that United replace him and Modric is the closest thing to Scholes that realistically United could get. He is stylish yet effective, he never shuns responsibility for getting on the ball and initiating attacks. Depsite his fragile frame, there is a braveness to him and on top of all that he is an adaptable player i.e. He is comfortable playing as part of two or a three man midfield and he is more than capable of doing a job in either wide position. There will be an obvious reluctance on Spurs part to sell but an offer of over £20 million could force their hand.
Gareth Bale:
I won’t be popular amongst Spurs fans but does anyone get the feeling that Gareth Bale was born to play for United? His attributes are clear for everyone to see, genuine honest wide play, powerful running and top class delivery. People (myself included) questioned his PFA Player’s Player of the Year Award. Whether it was right to award it to the Welshman or not, The fact of the matter is that in every game I’v seen him play for Spurs, he has been their most dangerous player. The money being asked for Bale is getting a bit silly, but hey, Harry Redknapp must be thinking to himself, if Newcastle got £35 million for Andy Carroll, I’m going to cash in here myself. Whether United will meet Spurs valuation remains to be seen.
David De Gea:
A new keeper is a priority at Old Trafford, quite simply it took Sir Alex Ferguson too long to replace Peter Schmeichel, poor signings were made, namely Bosnich, Taibi and even Barthez to an extent. This was covered up somewhat due to the poor quality of the teams challenging United in the early part of the noughties so this time they need to get it right. As regards, De Gea, I will openly admit, I’v only seen this lad play on around five or six occasions, the most impressive of which was a home match for Athletico Madrid against Barcelona during the season just gone. He was awesome, and seemed to possess all the attributes of a top drawer keeper. A good presence, excellent shot stopper and he was particularly impressive in one on one situations, in that he always seemed to stay big and remained on his feet. Edwin Van Der Sar has vouched for de Gea big time and has proclaimed him as his natural successor. It would appear that Fergie has heeded his advice by pursuing De Gea. We will have to wait and see if this transfer goes through but from the outset it seems that it could be good business alright.
Out:
I don’t feel that it is a time for massive reconstruction within this United squad, however with the retirements of Gary Neville, Edwin Van der Sar and now Paul Scholes, the squad is nearly reconstructing itself. We are also unaware of what Dimitar Berbatov’s feelings are given his omission from the Champions League Final Match day squad but we can only guess that he is unhappy. Michael Owen spent ninety minutes sat on the bench against Barcelona so that tells it’s own story about his future at the club. As for Owen Hargreaves, while everyone sympathises with his predicament, the fact is, he hasn’t played consistently in nearly three years due to a horrific string of injuries. There is no doubt that he is still one of the better paid players at Old Trafford so selling Hargreaves and trimming the wage bill would be good business all round. There would be several clubs vying for his signature if the player agreed to a pay as you play contract.
Chelsea:
In
Wesley Sneijder:
The Chelsea Midfield needs to be revamped, whilst undoubtedly full of energy and physicality they lack creativity, as well as the guile and cunning to really open teams up in tight situations. Sneijder is a wonderfully gifted and creative footballer with the added bonus of being a dead ball specialist. He consistently picks the right pass and constantly finds himself in space, the mark of a quality player. Given the free role in a three man midfield he could excel and more importantly we could see the best of a certain Fernando Torres as a result. He would be pricey having recently signed a new contract with Inter Milan, but Chelsea showed last January by signing both Torres and David Luiz that they are not afraid to splash the cash. Sneijder would be well worth it.
Neymar:
From what I’v seen of this guy he looks to be the real deal, what this Chelsea side is screaming out for is creativity and flair, they need to get away from the Mourinho era and revamp this team. If Roman Abramovich is after the silky football that we believe he craves, then signings of the Neymar ilk are the way to go. This kid has bags of skill, great balance and a burst of acceleration in possession that is Lionel Messi like. Blessed with sublime vision and dribbling skills he would be a wonderful acquisition for this Chelsea side. However he is hot property and Abramovich will have to fork out if he is to meet the asking price of his current club Santos.
Out
Frank Lampard:
People will look at this and think, “The guy writing this is off his rocker!“ I’v always thought Lampard was a good player, in the days of Jose Mourinho, he was a consistent scorer of goals and was an extremely effective player for Chelsea. However, the fact remains that the Holy Grail for Chelsea is winning the Champions League. It is quite clear that the current team is not and has not been good enough. Lampard is symptomatic of the way Chelsea play and they will never improve or change their style of play with him in the team. He is ineffective if Chelsea are struggling in a game and is incapable of grabbing a game by the scruff of the neck and providing something special. I have become acutely aware of this in recent years but certainly in both legs of Chelsea’s Champions League Quarter Final against Man United this year. I looked at Lampard several times in both those games and basically he was just shuttling up and down the pitch. He barely put his foot on the ball over the 180 minutes of the two games and therefore had zero influence. My opinion is not based solely on those two games. He struggled badly in several other games this year when Chelsea have had their backs against the wall and I feel his time is up at Stamford Bridge. That said, he is still a revered player within the game and Chelsea could pick up a tidy sum for him despite his age.
Didier Drogba:
Again this will surprise many readers. Make no mistake Drogba is an awesome striker and will be ranked amongst the Premier League’s greatest strikers. However at 33, one does wonder how much he has left in him? Furthermore if Chelsea continue with a 4-3-3 system then put simply, it is either Drogba or Torres. Neither of them will happily sit on the bench therefore one of them undermines the other. Torres is 27 years old and just cost Abramovich £50 million so you would imagine that he will play. I don’t feel that on current form that Torres is the better striker, however Torres is a better prospect for the future due to his age therefore Drogba should be sold.
Yuri Zhirkov:
Good things were expected of the talented Russian left footer but he has failed to deliver, hindered by the fine from of Ashley Cole and Florent Malouda ahead of him, he has struggled for first team football. Chelsea could also get decent money for him.
