Sir Alex Ferguson is many things: manager extraordinaire, sampler of fine wines and all round grumpy-guts, but one thing he’s not, is sentimental.
His most defining quality is that he’s a winner and this has meant he’s always willing to do whatever it takes to make Manchester United stronger. Consenting to make Manchester United weaker, is just something that will never happen.
With this in mind, a recent Daily Mail headline made me laugh: ‘We let you have RVP, now sell Nani to us on the cheap’. The sub-title reveals that Arsenal are tempted to make a move for the United winger, but the headline itself seems a little deluded.
Arsene Wenger sold Robin Van Persie to United for £24m – an absolute fortune for a player with one year left on his contract. Yes, he’s the best out and out striker in the world, but he has very little re-sale value and made begin to fade towards the end of his United contract.
Not to say that United struck a bad deal, simply to point out that Arsenal didn’t exactly get stiffed over. Arsene Wenger could have quite easily told Sir Alex to ‘stuff it’. The fact that he didn’t is a little revealing about the state of Arsenal’s finances at the time.
So, if Sir Alex genuinely thinks that selling Nani to a rival team, will weaken United, he wont do it.
The Mail claim that United are holding out for £20m for the Portuguese winger, but that Arsenal want a cheaper fee. That sounds like the Arsene Wenger we know and love, but I doubt they’ll be successful. World-class wingers are somewhat hard to come by nowadays and Sir Alex will want to squeeze every penny out of Nani’s transfer, so that he can re-invest the money himself.
I have to say, I view Nani as a great addition for this Arsenal side – especially if Theo Walcott decides to move on this year. He has pace, crossing ability and the skill to beat his man. He’s a supremely talented technical player, who has proven himself at every level. Yes, he’s a little inconsistent and a little frustrating, but isn’t Theo Walcott the same way?
At the moment the Gunners have Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain down the wings and they look to be doing a job. As such, buying a new winger is hardly a priority, but a player like Nani has the ability to improve this squad – as such, it’d hard to feel disappointed if any such move materialized.
What’s your take? Should Arsenal be in the market for Luis Nani?
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Fergusan is managing a football club not a business like Arsenal.
I agree with cin. Until Wenger realises he cannot win the epl on the cheap,Arsenal will continue to stagnate. To hell with the debt burden seems to be the red faced answer.
If he keeps on winning,with the help of the FA and refs,sponsorship deals will take care of the debt.Arsenal in contrast maybe the perfect model for ffp but fans are losing faith and can’t wait for 2014. Action must be taken now to enable the gunners to compete otherwise the gap will be too big to close with the top teams.
This is a scenario I imagined. Let’s take for example a quality player in place of OX.He could have well made a difference. Instead we will have to wait for the kid to develop.
Hopefully for the tw in Jan ,Wenger will go for players who can give the seniors an immediate lift .That means quality and experienced players.
That means he has to pay the market rate. If he continues to get youngsters you can be sure they will deliver initially but will fade as the going gets tougher and the gunners will reamin a flash in the pan.