19-years-old and worth £30m: Should Manchester United go for it?

A few days after Manchester United were linked to Brazilian star Ganso, Not long after, The Mirror have endeavoured to link the Red Devils to yet another young South American star. He’s a player who has been making plenty of waves and is widely heralded as Brazil’s best young talent (barring, of course, Neymar and perhaps Ganso who’s now 22-years-old). His name is Lucas Moura. The Mirror claim that Sir Alex Ferguson has already sent his chief scout Jim Lawlor to attempt to finalise a deal for the youngster.

He’s currently at Sao Paulo, who have just managed to finalise another 12 month loan deal for Arsenal’s Denilson and may thus be willing to let him go. One thing’s for sure, there is likely to be plenty of competition for his signature, with both Chelsea and Real Madrid linked.

He’s thought to be worth about £35m to Sao Paulo with Manchester United willing to spend up to £30m on the talented young thing.

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He’s the kind of player that looks absolutely fantastic in Youtube compilations, but I have to admit that I’ve seen very little of him. Whilst the likes of Neymar and Ganso have become famous in Europe, Moura is just starting to get his name out there. One thing’s for sure, the kid must be mighty talented if United are willing to weigh up such a large move for him. They spent half his purported price-tag on Shinji Kagawa, a man who had already proven himself over the course of two seasons in the Bundesliga.

Moura, of course, comes with no such experience and would thus represent something of a gamble. Yes, he’s played 80 times for Sao Paulo, but will he be able to transfer his experience and ability to the tougher, more physical Premier League? There can be no assurances and at £30m+, it’s a big risk to take.

Whilst he’s crafty and skilful, it’s not clear that that’s what United need. They need somebody who can take the game by the scruff of its neck and start dominating it. It’s not clear that Moura (19) is capable of doing that. When you consider that, a fully-fledged International, Joao Moutinho wouldn’t cost United that much more, (£25 according to this source) it seems strange that Fergie would look to spend big on somebody so inexperienced.

Stranger things have happened in football, but this is one I just can’t see happening.

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