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Monday, 29 July 2013

Five Cesc Fabregas Alternatives For Manchester United

With Moyes failing to secure the services of any of his top transfer targets so far, and his continued efforts to sign Cesc Fabregas proving unfruitful - perhaps he should look elsewhere to solve his midfield crisis.
Here are five alternatives to Fabregas.
Luca Modric
Since swapping London for Madrid last summer, Modric has had somewhat of a mixed season.
At the start he found himself struggling to settle in and often watching the game from the bench. However his luck turned around and he soon established himself as a key part in Mourinho’s plans. Incidentally this was in the Champions League Quarter Final against United when he came off the bench and stunned the crowd with a wonderful 25 yard volley. However Madrid have recently signed Isco and Asier Illarramendi - so there is an even wider option of midfielders for boss Carlo Ancelotti to take his pick from.
He was signed for a fee around £33 million and it make take a similar offer to aquire his services.
But with United willing to fork out £30 million for Fabregas they should be prepared to do anything to land their man.
Yohan Cabaye
The Newcastle midfield maestro gave Toon fans a scare when he talked up the possibility of moving to Old Trafford on French TV earlier this year.
His performances at Newcastle were hardly befitting of a club who just avoided relegation this year. Fortunately for Newcastle fans things seemed to have quietened down but with things going down the wrong road with Fabregas, United may well face the fact of losing another target and turn their attentions to the Frenchman.
And while he is still a big part of Didier Deschamps' recent France squads, ever increasing competition may force him to seek assurances that he will be a big part in the upcoming World Cup next year in Brazil.
He has also been linked a move back to his homeland, with PSG and newly promoted big-spenders Monaco both believed to be sniffing around, but a move to Old Trafford could prove to be too appealing for him to turn down.
Cabaye is still under contract for another three years at St James' Park so it would take a substantial bid to tempt Mike Ashley into parting with his star man, but there is no doubting that he would be a welcome addition to United.    
Arturo Vidal
Arturo Vidal is simply one of the best players in his position. His reading of the game allows him to make accurate long balls.
His pass succession is 87% and he wins 1.4 aerial duels a game. He is the clock that keeps Juventus ticking and he helped them to their 29th league title.
In a a league where physical strength is important his stamina and strength with benefit him greatly.  Not much is said of Vidal in England and United are more interested in his teammate Claudio Marchisio however I believe that while Marchisio is a great player, Vidal is just that bit better and would make a wonderful addition to United.
Ilkay Gündogan
Gündogan is the present and future heart of Borussia Dortmund as Sebastian Kehl is ageing and Mario Götze departs for Bayern Munich. He has been linked with United but Dortmund are deperate not to let another one of their stars leave, especially since Lewandoski is being linked away to Bayern.
This will make it difficult to prise him away as they will not want their three best players leaving.The young German gave encouraging performances last year in the Champions League and Bundesliga and at only 22 years of age is showing very encouraging signs for the future.
Marco Verratti
Gündogan and Sven Bender at Dortmund, Bayern using Bastien Schweisteiger and Javi Martinez and Brazil picking both Paulinho and Luis Gustavo. Maybe this could be the key to United not only retaining the Premier League crown but also getting further in the Champions League.
One the stars of the under 21 European Championships with Italy, Veratti seems to be constantly improving and as he only turned 20 last November he could develop to become of the best players in his position should his rate of development continue.
United have been linked with Veratti on a number of occasions and his performances have sent his value soaring.
The one issue with signing Veratti is his similarity to Carrick. They both occupy similar positions and they both have exceptional game reading abilities. But Champions League finalist and Confederation Cup winners have all found success using deep lying midfielders.
I being a United fan would be delighted to see any of the aforementioned players in a Red Devils jersey but others may feel that Marouane Fellaini could do the job better and that the burly Belgian could be a better investment.
But I just can’t see him linking up well with Shinji Kagawa.

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