The Argentina v Holland World Cup semi-final was a deadly dull game, but one of its bright sparks was Benfica’s talented Argentine midfielder, Enzo Perez.
The plucky Argentine made a number of good runs into the channel, always showed for the ball and also pulled off a number of decent passes. Nothing he did was really good enough to turn the game on its head, but he was able to demonstrate plenty of evidence of his talent.
I’m sure that Manchester United fans were watching with keen interest. After all, The Mirror recently ran an article suggesting that The Red Devils were ‘considering’ hijacking ‘Valencia’s move’ for Perez this summer. They note that the La Liga side have made a £20m bid for the Argentine. If Manchester United proclaim their interest in the player, they could well jump to the head of the queue.
Even without Valencia to challenge them, signing Perez may not be easy. As these quotes show, the Argentine is perfectly content at Benfica:
“I am very happy at Benfica, I signed the contract renewal before travelling to join the Argentina squad, which shows that I want to keep wearing this shirt. I am feeling very well at Benfica and I know the club will try to do the best for me. I’ll respect what they decide.”
I wonder if the player’s attitude could change were Manchester United to make their interest in the player public. Would he really be able to resist the advances of The Red Devils?
Benfica themselves may have to do some book-balancing this summer and may thus be willing to sell. It’s certainly worth Manchester United testing the waters with a bid.
Louis Van Gaal saw him in action for Argentina last Wednesday. I’m sure he’ll have seen him play many times before that. Now we just need to see if he thinks he’s good enough for The Red Devils. Fingers crossed.
What’s your take? Are Manchester United right to pursue this World Cup star?
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