Beware! Manchester United set to go Brazilian
A strange lull has fallen over the Premier League at the moment. Almost eerie. I can feel it, and I know a lot of my fellow Liverpudlians can too. Blame Real Madrid I suppose. And Carlos Tévez. If it wasn’t for that amalgamation of characters, chancers and crackpots, we wouldn’t have this feeling. This fear of the unexpected. Everyone else may be penning the obituaries for Sir Alex Ferguson’s “greatest ever squad”, but the cynics amongst us are waiting. And expecting.
Of course we have read all the names. Franck Ribéry, David Villa, Karim Benzema, Sergio Agüero, Luis Antonio Valencia. All these names, stars, set to fill the chasm left by the departed duo of Ronaldo & Tévez. Figures of £80m banded about. Sir Alex Ferguson. £80m. Manchester United. Does that not scare you? It does me.
Because we have seen it before. Bryan Robson. Paul Ince. Eric Cantona. Jaap Stam. David Beckham. Ruud Van Nistelrooy. All stars of United sides from days gone by. All seemingly irreplaceable. All left.
And guess what? Life went on. Ok there were ripples- United’s first game after Ince leaving was a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa after which Alan Hansen made the now-infamous assumption that “you win nothing with kids”, whilst the first seasons post-Cantona, Stam & Beckham passed without a League Title as their replacements (Teddy Sheringham, Laurent Blanc & Cristiano Ronaldo) were bedded into a side well drilled in the art of winning- but in the end, Ferguson rebuilt the side, altered the dynamics, and sustained the success. He will do it again too.
Which means that when you read newspaper stories like the one featured in yesterday’s Times about his supposed interest in Grêmio’s 18 year-old wonderkid Douglas Costa, it makes you worry. Unless of course you happen to be a Manchester United fan.
Costa was rather lazily labelled by the newspaper in question as “the new Ronaldo”, but it should be quickly pointed out that this is a player with a sum total of sixteen senior appearances under his belt, who is just the latest in a long, long line of young Brazilians to be burdened, often prematurely, with the tag of “the next Ronaldinho / Ronaldo / Romario / Pelé / Garrincha”.
Anyone remember the original Denílson for example? As James Ducker wisely points out in his Times article, he was proclaimed as a future superstar when he left São Paulo for Real Betis in 1998, but little more than five years later his career had been derailed, and he now plies his trade in the less-than-glamorous Vietnamese league with the less-than-pronounceable Xi Măng Hải Phòng FC.
In Costa’s case, there certain similarities with the big names; Ronaldinho began his career more than a decade ago at Grêmio, playing fifty-two times for the Porto Alegre outfit before earning a lucrative move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2002. And like his predecessor, Costa is an attacking midfielder who currently operates best from an advanced station wide on the left, using his dazzlingly quick feet to bamboozle defenders and creating goals with his creative and intuitive passing ability and his accuracy from set pieces.
The BBC’s South American expert, Tim Vickery, is certainly a fan, but voiced words of caution when reviewing his performance at the South American Under-20 Championship in February, saying “He had an uneven tournament, initially losing his place in the side and inconsistent even after winning it back. At present he is a player for moments rather than matches- but the moments are of remarkable talent”.
Certainly, Douglas is creating headlines in his home country, and reports of late suggest that his club has, surprisingly shrewdly for a Brazilian club, inserted a clause that will ensure that any move to a big club in Europe will net them a cool £21m. But Ducker reported in yesterday’s Times that United’s chief Brazilian scout, John Calvert-Toulmin, recommended the player to Ferguson a year ago, and the player’s agent Cesar Bottega revealed that initial discussions have taken place.
“There have been informal conversations and I believe United would match those values. At the end of the Brasileirão [the South American league championship that ends in December], Douglas will be worth at least twice that.”
This protracted move is just the latest in United’s ever-increasing South American project, led by Calvert-Toulmin. With Anderson a first-team regular, and perhaps able to move into a more advanced position with the absence of Ronaldo & Tévez next season, and twins Rafael & Fábio Da Silva coming on leaps and bounds in their debut English league seasons, as well as the neat and tidy Rodrigo Possebon hovering around the fringe of the first team, United have a strong Brazilian contingent.
And with further reports suggesting that Corinthians’ 17 year-old defender Dodô is set to seal a £5.5m move- arriving at the club next February- this is set to be increased further.
So ignore Villa. Ignore Benzema. Forget Tévez. Even try to forget Ronaldo (just don’t tell him). United have a bright future. One filled with the sound of the Samba beat no less.
Topics: English Premier League, Football Transfers, Manchester United
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Neil, sorry to burst your bubble but no longer have you gone and published your blog, but utd have pulled out of the deal. Oh well, the samba beat goes on.
June 25th, 2009 @ 10:01We have heard more than enough about the Tevez story. It was badly handled by United, and not for the first time we have lost a good player by hesitating too much too long. But Tevez actually was not really of stellar quality, and should be easily replaced. He was strong, determined, and scored decisive goals. Eqaully he missed sitters,and his slowness was not an asset, since he was incapable of a Ronaldo/Rooney breakthough. He has gone now and it is pointless flogging the story ad infinitum.
June 25th, 2009 @ 10:21@Colie: He has been refused to Utd for a trial. That is very different from ‘Utd pulling out of the deal’…unless I have missed something?
@Staines: The article was not about Tevez so I don’t get your point.
@Neil: Top article as usual.
June 25th, 2009 @ 11:06there was another argie i think zarate or something playing for birmingham who seemed quite good at the time. wheres he now? could he do the job. and if its someone buzzing around the final third that u need what about michael mifsud?
June 25th, 2009 @ 17:17Tevez was a SQUAD player. Good he may be, but he is not a Rooney, not a Vidic or Rio, but a squad player, and at the price of Tevez, we will more than likely end up replacing him with a lot more quality and a better first touch.
Back to the article, and I have to say that it is spot on. I’ve read the Brazilian links for months now and this is on track. We more than likely will end up signing this guy Costa as he is going to be very good. Maybe as we did Ronaldo initially to build his confidence – not that Brazilian players are short of it!
We’ve lost one very good first team player in Ronaldo, but the time was right to move him on, and at 80 million pound, it really is good business from United.
Excellent article, no need to panic at Old Trafford. We’ve done it before and will always go on. I personally think Cantona was a bigger loss, but anyone who Fergie gives a shirt too is a player we should all back and trust. The same with anyone he let’s go, or stalls over.
June 25th, 2009 @ 17:52good point!
June 25th, 2009 @ 19:13M.Mifsud will be a good runner on the wing
June 26th, 2009 @ 11:54but we need better players if we want to continue the prem.run
Like aguiero Benzema Ribery to mention some
we need to secure the midfield as owen H. won’t be back this year and a c.b.
Anderson is the only one who can pull off the samba beat dance…
June 26th, 2009 @ 22:04the thing I’m concern with is:
June 27th, 2009 @ 03:37it will take time to rebuild…
remember when Beckham, Van Nistrelroy etc left…
Manchester United went into a period of darkness….
Losing to Arsenal in EPL and Chelsea after that…
I’m just really worried to be honest
if ManU doesn’t sign anyone but instead they keep selling…
Pique, Rossi were all sold, which I thought was bad dealings…
they were promising young stars and yet SAF sold them
Tevez leaving…with Alex to be reported to start selling off Nani and Campell…
and thus, the rumored signing like Valencia…he’s really not up to standard…and overated…
i’m really not satisfied with the squad…
yes manu may still win the EPL because of the strong defense…
but Champions League, FA Cup etc.
don’t count on ManU to win them
I’m a manchester United fan…but still I’m only convinced that next year at most they could only win 1 trophy and I’ve got a feeling it would be English League Cup…
@Jeremy: Relax buddy, it sounds like you wear-out a couple of sets of worry beads a week! There’s a long way to go in the transfer market and Fergie only clears out players who are not up to scratch.
I put Tevez in that category and Nani has not done it either. He’ll be 24 this year and that’s WAY beyond the age where wingers establish themselves. Campbell is a good player but with Welbeck and Macheda in the ramks is he really going to get a look in, even as a back-up player?
If anything Utd’s squad is too big and needs some pruning.
Just look at the midfield area: Nani, Park, Giggs, Scholes, Hargreaves, Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson….and that’s before we get to the emerging players: Tosic, Gibson, Possebon, Ljajic and, if rumours are correct, the very promising Costa soon to arrive from Brazil.
There’s a limit to how many players you can cope with or bring thru at any point in time so you have to do some pruning along the way.
June 27th, 2009 @ 11:41What will be fascinating from Anderson’s point of view will be whether he is pushed further up the field or left as a deeper lying playmaker. We all saw his attacking skills at Porto and for Brazil’s U17/19 sides, but as yet he has been fairly restricted in that respect as Ferguson turns him into a more complete midfield player. With a few holes to plug upfield it wouldn’t surprise me to see a central midfielder (a la Marcos Senna, though not necessarily him) brought in, and Anderson given license to play further forward, perhaps from a wide starting station.
June 28th, 2009 @ 12:23