Even if Manchester United go on a fantastic run of wins in the remaining part of the season, there’s likely to be a lot of changes in personnel throughout the summer. The deadwood will be cut adrift and new blood will be drafted in.
There are players who clearly aren’t good enough to challenge for a place in this once great club and there are others whose age is starting to hold them back.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Manchester United’s defensive unit. Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra are hardly spring-chickens. They’re all paid-up members to the creaky-knee club and are slap bang in the middle of the autumn of their career. In other words, they’re not really a defense that you can hang a title challenge on. That’s particularly true given the player’s respective injury problems.
To make matters worse (or better, depending on how you look at things), Nemanja Vidic has already announced his intention to leave the club in the summer. As things currently stand, it looks like Rio Ferdinand wont be far behind him. David Moyes could be about to face a defensive exodus. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how he reacts.
This brings me to a story that GiveMeSport recently ran, linking Manchester United to Ezequiel Garay. The Red Devils have been linked to the Benfica star for quite some time now, but the source suggests that the deal could now go ahead if David Moyes’ is willing to trigger the player’s 20m euro (£16.5m) release clause.
Having been in Portugal for three seasons now, I’d argue that this Argentine ace is ready for a new challenge. Having spent time at big clubs like Real Madrid, I can’t help but feel that he’s due a move to a team with as much pedigree as Manchester United.
He certainly has all the quality necessary to make his mark. At 27-years-old, he’s still got plenty of pace, isn’t afraid to make a last ditch tackle and use his physicality to win possession. He’s also got good technique and can pass the ball about neatly from the back.
For a player who has so much experience and know how, he’s got a fairly reasonable price-tag. In fact, he could be a fairly smart purchase for The Red Devils.
What’s your take? Is Ezequiel Garay worth £16.5m?
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