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With the blue half of Manchester feeling increasingly optimistic about the future, the same cannot be said of their rivals in red.
The double winners have had their successful 2008 season celebrations dampened by the summer and pre season antics of wantaway Cristiano Ronaldo. And although they may have finalised their deadline day marquee signing, 6 major cogs in the Manchester United machine are on their way out of the door.
After winning the Champions League Ferguson stated his intention to leave Manchester United within the next three years and it is not unrealistic to expect Neville, Van der Saar, Giggs, Scholes and Ronaldo to have already left the club by then. With no obvious replacements for Fergie or Ronaldo, replacements Brown, Foster, Nani and Anderson far from convincing, the competitive financial muscle coming from Chelsea and Manchester City and the youthful squads at Arsenal and Liverpool, can United recover from this loss?
United's squad has been trimmed considerably in the past few years as multiple fringe players are sold on in order to finance expensive signings, it seems the purse strings are tighter than usual at United, and although the sale of Ronaldo will generate much needed transfer funds, how much will it cost to find world class replacements for Van der Saar, Neville, Scholes, Giggs and Ronaldo? Or if it is deemed that the injury prone Foster, Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson are sufficient how much will it cost to replace them in the squad? Chelsea and City forcing the prices up surely will not help.
And finally, the big man. The boozer. The gaffer. The puss heed. How will United ever replace him?
The double winners have had their successful 2008 season celebrations dampened by the summer and pre season antics of wantaway Cristiano Ronaldo. And although they may have finalised their deadline day marquee signing, 6 major cogs in the Manchester United machine are on their way out of the door.
After winning the Champions League Ferguson stated his intention to leave Manchester United within the next three years and it is not unrealistic to expect Neville, Van der Saar, Giggs, Scholes and Ronaldo to have already left the club by then. With no obvious replacements for Fergie or Ronaldo, replacements Brown, Foster, Nani and Anderson far from convincing, the competitive financial muscle coming from Chelsea and Manchester City and the youthful squads at Arsenal and Liverpool, can United recover from this loss?
United's squad has been trimmed considerably in the past few years as multiple fringe players are sold on in order to finance expensive signings, it seems the purse strings are tighter than usual at United, and although the sale of Ronaldo will generate much needed transfer funds, how much will it cost to find world class replacements for Van der Saar, Neville, Scholes, Giggs and Ronaldo? Or if it is deemed that the injury prone Foster, Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson are sufficient how much will it cost to replace them in the squad? Chelsea and City forcing the prices up surely will not help.
And finally, the big man. The boozer. The gaffer. The puss heed. How will United ever replace him?
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Last edited by Iraq Hysén Osama on Sun Jan 10, 2010 5:24 pm; edited 3 times in total
