Friday, March 29, 2024

Fergie has money to spend. Should he spend it?

A couple of weeks ago Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said that he didn’t expect to make any more signings during the summer. After the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80 million, it was expected that some big names might be on their way to Old Trafford.

As it stands, United have only bought striker Michael Owen for free as well as winger Antonio Valencia, midfielder Gabriel Obertan and forward Mame Biram Diouf, to replace Ronaldo and the departing Carlos Tevez who’s loan spell came to an end.

Debt

The fact that United have not ’spent big’ has led some people to suggest that the funds from the Ronaldo transfer were being used to pay off some of the club’s enormous debt rather than being given to Ferguson to add to his squad.

Throughout the summer United have been linked to just about every top player, including the likes of French striker Karim Benzema, Brazilian forward Douglas Costa, French playmaker Franck Ribery and Spain striker David Villa. Benzema chose to go to Real Madrid and it seems that United’s interest in the other three has all but gone.

Funds

Yesterday a spokesman for the Glazer family who own the Old Trafford club made it clear that funds are available to Sir Alex if he finds the right sort of players.

“The manager has a significant amount of money to invest. We are talking about a net amount of about £60 million. That cash can be reinvested in the squad. The manager has not been able to locate players that fit the Manchester United mindset. You don’t want to pay for unmotivated players not willing to give their all.”

I wonder where Dimitar Berbatov fits within the phrase, ‘you don’t want to pay for unmotivated players not willing to give their all?!!’

The spokesman went on to clarify the position with regard to the debt the club took on when the Glazers arrived back in 2005.

“We do have debt to service and carry a significant amount of debt but our interest payments are around £43.3 million a year while our operating profit was £80 million topped by an extra £25 million from transfer profits.”

Interestingly Ryan Giggs has spoken out about how he believes United can come back and grow again after the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez. He referred to the mount of times Sir Alex has rebuilt the team during his twenty-three year tenure.

“Since I came into the team the likes of Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes, Eric Cantona, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roy Keane and David Beckham have left the club. But that is what the manager is so good at, reshaping and re-energising the team. Carlos and Cristiano were great players but we move on. As players it’s like ships in the night. You just get on with it.”

I heard somebody say the other day that they believed Sir Alex has pretty much written off this season and would regard it as a great bonus if his team were to win anything. They said that he is concentrating on building another side capable of taking on and beating the best in Europe.

Emergence

The signings of young players such as Tosic and Obertan, together with the emergence of the likes of the Rafael twins, Gibson and Macheda and the slow blooding of Ben Foster to replace Van der Sar, may just be pointers to the fact that the pundit I heard talking may just have a point.

Do you think Sir Alex would be right to start rebuilding now or should he spend that £60 million on established big name players?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Graham Fisher


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  • Benmaxz

    0 0

    Well.. it will be ok (i believe) if sir fergerson will sign in more good players, it dosn’t really mean that he should sign players with big name.. “no”. Because i know a player might be good due to the kinds of other players found within & around him. Etoo samuel is good for a club like Man Utd, fergie should not fall back on the effort to bring him to Old Traford. All we need as the big Utd fans is getting to the top at every season as usual.

  • kevin

    0 0

    I stronly believe that Fergie has pulled a brilliant move with the free signing of Owen, who has shown that he still has that ambition for scoring goals, as well as the signing of the brilliant up and comer Obertan and the established Prem calibre winger in Valencia. We have all the necessary ingredients to challenge on all fronts again his coming season without any of the crutches (i.e. relying on Ronaldo for the goals). CMON FERGIE SHOW EM YOUR BRILLIANCE YET AGAIN!

  • Sobande segun

    0 0

    I strongly believe with that kind of money given to fergie,he will definitely bring in a good player like sergio aguero or more still lure frank ribery to old trafford.

  • Jay Sendolo, from Minnesota USA

    0 0

    It will be very sad and calamitous for us fans of Man U if and only if sir Alex has ruled out the coming season–that man U will not win anything. While it’s true that the team has lost a great assess like Ronaldo, and the team failing to retain the UEFA title, he should reconsider any other decisions he’s taking now to try and get some good players. I expected sir Alex to have bought Eto’o, and I believe that if he has shown enough interest in Eto’o, Eto’o was going to be more than willing to join Man U. My concern here is that if it happens that Man U does not win any trophy the coming season, they shuld be able to stay in the top four. The premier league (09/10), in my opinion will be a do or die battle. Besides the original top 4 teams in England (Man U, Che., Livep, and Ars,), there are many ambitious team emerging (like Man C, Totth, Evert,) and several others. Therefore, I really ask Sir Alex to reconsider his decision to bring on some great players.

  • Jay Sendolo, from Minnesota USA

    0 0

    It will be very sad and calamitous for us fans of Man U if and only if sir Alex has ruled out the coming season–that man U will not win anything. While it’s true that the team has lost a great assess like Ronaldo, and the team failing to retain the UEFA title, he should reconsider any other decisions he’s taking now to try and get some good players. I expected sir Alex to have bought Eto’o, and I believe that if he has shown enough interest in Eto’o, Eto’o was going to be more than willing to join Man U. My concern here is that if it happens that Man U does not win any trophy the coming season, they shuld be able to stay in the top four. The premier league (09/10), in my opinion will be a do or die battle. Besides the original top 4 teams in England (Man U, Che., Livep, and Ars,), there are many ambitious team emerging (like Man C, Totth, Evert,) and several others. Therefore, I really ask Sir Alex to reconsider his decision to bring on some great players.

  • Sobande segun

    0 0

    I strongly believe with that kind of money given to fergie,he will definitely bring in a good player like sergio aguero or more still lure frank ribery to old trafford.

  • kevin

    0 0

    I stronly believe that Fergie has pulled a brilliant move with the free signing of Owen, who has shown that he still has that ambition for scoring goals, as well as the signing of the brilliant up and comer Obertan and the established Prem calibre winger in Valencia. We have all the necessary ingredients to challenge on all fronts again his coming season without any of the crutches (i.e. relying on Ronaldo for the goals). CMON FERGIE SHOW EM YOUR BRILLIANCE YET AGAIN!

  • Benmaxz

    0 0

    Well.. it will be ok (i believe) if sir fergerson will sign in more good players, it dosn’t really mean that he should sign players with big name.. “no”. Because i know a player might be good due to the kinds of other players found within & around him. Etoo samuel is good for a club like Man Utd, fergie should not fall back on the effort to bring him to Old Traford. All we need as the big Utd fans is getting to the top at every season as usual.

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