I admit it – despite being a Manchester United fan I do read Arsenal News Review. Something to do with ‘keeping up with the news’ and all that.
And Myles is usually a really good writer – biased, but good.
So when he goes off on tangents and talks about how the key to Fernando Torres moving to Manchester United is Nike, you’ve got to wonder who his dealer is (and how we can get our hands on some of it).
Manchester United are after Torres, no question about it. This would be a Beckham-esque deal – good player, better advertising revenue. Star players are marketable commodities, and United need the added money as much as they need the player (and a deal in which Torres would earn United as much money as Becks earns Madrid would solve a lot of our troubles).
But that’s the key point – we need the money because we don’t have any.
Fernando Torres is a good player, but there are three big problems:
One, he’s overpriced. I don’t have to tell you that Essien was not worth 25 million, and 27 million for Torres is 7 to 10 mil too much.
Two, he’s overhyped. Will Torres end up being like Totti, or will he be a Ronaldo (Brazilian)? On current evidence, he’s somewhere in between and only a move to a big club will tell.
Three, he’s unproven. A lot of people will disagree with me, but Torres will take time to develop. Manchester United will have to make a decision on whether they would pick up players that are good enough to make us win this year, to good enough to make us win 3 years down the road.
The biggest mistake you could make is to go after Torres thinking that he’s as good as Rooney. He ain’t.
Don’t get me wrong – I want Torres in Manchester United. When Ruud leaves, Torres becomes the ideal replacement.
But that’s only relevant if we had the big budgets to spend on these players. United are at a knife’s edge, haven’t won the league for three years and with 6 weeks left in the transfer market do not have a credible transfer move to their name (no, Carrick does not count).
You think Liverpool or Tottenham or Arsenal wouldn’t want Torres? Course they do. They probably can’t afford them, which is what we have to wrap our heads around. What if, as this is how it’s looking like, we can’t afford him either? Will we still pay a ransom for his head and bet our future on his ability to help us win some trophies?
Torres is way too expensive, so is Diarra. Manchester United are waiting on Italy and hoping to hear what Vieira and Gattuso have to say, but really, there are other good midfielders and strikers around as well. Here are a few names.
But Myles…the whole Joga Bonita link is some good shit man 🙂
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