I come bearing good news and bad news…
According to The Sun, Barcelona are believed to have made a move for Patrick Vieira in a player-plus-cash bid, offering 6 mil pounds and Thiago Motta.
Vieira now has three clubs chasing him – Inter, Manchester United and Barcelona. Vieira’s destination? Despite Inter’s interest I think that Barcelona and United must be better placed to sign him. I don’t have much confidence in rumours reported by The Sun, but Barca have the financial muscle to outbid United and Laporta would want to sign as many new players as possible before the supposed re-elections to strengthen his position. If Barca are really in the race, then Manchester United’s chances for signing the player would be very little.
But things get worse…
According to the FC Bayern website, Bayern have made a fresh bid for Ruud van Nistelrooy that is supposedly higher than what they bid last time around and higher than what Real Madrid bid as well.
How is Vieira going to Barcelona good news? For starters, Manchester United will now be forced to look for other midfield reinforcements and will stop ‘hanging around’ waiting for their targets to decide. Vieira was Ferguson’s first choice, Gattuso is second, while Carrick remains in the frame as the second midfielder United want to buy. If Vieira goes out of the picture, United will now be forced to make a bid for Gattuso or look elsewhere. We should not panic, but we have to buy a midfielder soon. Also, Vieira’s age means that we would be spending 8 mil on a player on the last leg of his career.
Ruud leaving United is bad news though. I’ve alread said that I don’t want Ruud to go, and that’s only because he is a proven striker and because of our midfield troubles we wont be able to replace him properly. Ferguson is not one to forgive though, and Ruud should leave this summer.
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