Hargreaves Alternatives for Manchester United?
The chase for Owen Hargreaves reminds me a bit of the way Ferguson went after Ruud van Nistelrooy - identify a top player, make sure he wants to come to Manchester United and then move heaven and hell to get him to Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy is arguably one of Manchester United’s top signings this decade. I have a strong feeling that Hargreaves, when/if he comes, will be on that list as well.
The question here is though - what about other midfielders in Europe? Surely there is another player in Europe that is as good as Hargreaves (if not better) and will come to Old Trafford as well?
Here’s a list of players and their chances of coming to Manchester United.
Vieira
No, he’s not too old to play, no, he won’t mind coming to United after playing for Arsenal and yes, Ferguson would be interested in signing him.
Problem is, he’s still old, and won’t come for cheap. He also has high wage demands that United could balk at (although we’re paying Larsson 100k/week, so maybe that’s not an issue), and it could also be that Vieira prefers the slower-paced game in Serie A to the hustle-bustle of the Premiership?
Would be a quality buy if we get him, but I doubt he’d come.
Gattuso
If Milan don’t win the CL, and if they don’t qualify for Europe, there is a slight chance that some of their players will leave. I’d expect one of Gattuso and Pirlo to move, but will they come to Old Trafford?
A lot has been said in the press, and a lot has been attributed to Gattuso but the fact remains that he likes to play for Milan and he will probably stay there. Would be a good buy, but won’t be coming.
Pirlo
Same as Gattuso, except that I always saw Pirlo to be in the Cannavaro/Zambrotta mould - more professional than passionate. So he’s still a possibility for jumping ship, but I wouldn’t bet on him doing as well in the Prem.
Baptista
Yes, he likes Arsenal. Yes, Madrid are probably willing to sell him. But if there are complications with the Reyes deal, or if Madrid ask for a lot of money for Baptista (this isn’t Chelsea, they’ll bargain to their deaths and beyond if they need to), there will be an opening for any opportunistic club to pounce.
Ok, seriously? Not a chance 
Diarra
We missed out on him last season, and it’s a fair bet to say that he won’t be interested in leaving Real Madrid just yet.
Xavi
His name has been floated by fans for a while now - it’s more like the Mascherano situation last season where everyone said we should sign Mascherano. The current situation at Barcelona is pretty interesting, but Xavi is a loyal player and him swapping Barcelona for Man Utd doesn’t make much sense.
Cahill
The type of player we could use, along with Hargreaves, to add real quality to our midfield (and shore it up after Scholes packs it in). Will probably jump at the chance to come to United, but is not as young as we’d like him to be.
I’d put Nolan in the same category as well, because he’s a player who enjoys the big stage and along with Cahill is one of the best midfielders in the Premiership outside the top four.
Soo….what do you guys think?
Who else could sign for Manchester United instead of Hargreaves?
All the latest football headlines.
Viera … too old.
Gatusso and Pirlo .. wont leave Milan.
Diarra … Maybe a good signing.
The rest are offence minded midfielders and wont be able to play the role Hargreaves is expected to play.
How can you suggest players like Cahill, Nolan, Baptista and Xavi as alternatives to Hargreaves? None of them are remotely similar. The reason we are going for hargreaves is to add steel to the midfield, not creativity and goal scoring.
Alternatives are very thin on the ground, but you’d need to be looking at the likes of Appaih and Muntari. How good either would be, or if we would ever go for them, i don’t know - but they are more like Hargreaves then a few you have named. Of your list, I’d only see Vieira, Gattuso and Diarra as alternatives.Vieira is a no, straight off. If it was likely, it would have happened in the summer. Now he is playing for the league champs, and soon to be league champs again. Gattuso has just signed a new contract, so its a no for him too. Diarra, there is more of a chance. Gago looks to be the favourite in that position now, and there is a lot of talk Madrid will go for Cesc. Diarra isn’t getting th game time he would like, and there was talk of a move back to Lyon in the January window. However, he had his chance to sign for us, and didn’t want to come, so he can get stuffed.
I agree with Tauren. We need steel not Ribbon, although I will say Nolan does like to tackle and can play in the big stage.
The Likes of Baptista, Cahill Xavi are not tough in the tackle. Diarra sits in the middle of the park and will bite or Snare when needed, he ain’t no Rollover chump…But he ain’t leaving Madrid. Stephen Appiah would be a good puchase because having played in the Italian and now the Turkish league, he would be used to the tough tackling. Muntari…does not get my vote, have not heard enough of him.
Viera, Guttusso…both too old. We need someone who is quick in the tackle and can pass. You only need to watch Bayern munich to see just how valuable Hargreaves is, forget about the asking price. Now here’s one to ponder.
Who will be Schole’s replacement? Think about this. Kieran Richardson has not had a great season…Playing out on the wing because of his pace but not performing. When he came on in the central midfield for the Under 21s he was a star player. Add to that the last game he played last season in the 4-1 demolition of charlton…Who got man of the match and where was he playing? I think he needs a chance in the Midfield..against the crappy teams atleast. Then we would really see what he is made of
I dont think any other players than Owen are likely to come to Old Trafford because we dont need them. They are not good enogh for United. If i could add someone to the list i would say Kaka and Lampard.
If Milan doesnt win the Champions League or qualify for it he would like to go. He is a player with high ambitions, and Scholes is not getting any younger. He is a player that is good defensivly and attacking. He is a good passer and he can score great goals from long range. I think Kaka would like to join United because it is a club that would fit him really well and because he is a boyhood fan.
Lampard is not signing a new contract with Chelsea and he might want to leave them. If Chelsea dont win any league or cup this season, he can be bought for maybe £25 million.
United already have Carrick and unless I’m much mistaken they’re trying to anticipate the loss of scholes so the signing of a Cahill or a Nolan might be what they need. The Hargreaves deal is probably so that he can switch in with Carrick this season and next season they can put one of them in Scholes’ previous position and adapt them like they did with Alan Smith. Also you guys completely forgot Alan Smith and with only Saha, Rooney certain for next season it’s entirely feasable that they’ll bring back Smith and Rossi from their loan deals, play Smith as a striker and grab a midfield replacement for Scholes, but at the rate the Hargreaves deal is going, he might not come, so I guess everyone on this list plus the option of Alan Smith playing as a defensive midfielder.
Personally knowing Ferguson, he knows this is a very important role to fill and unless there is a proven player he won’t buy him.
Paul Ince - West Ham
Keane - Nottingham Forest
Carrick - Tottenham
Just looking at these three you notice that they came from english clubs and Hargreaves is simillar to Ruud in that Fergie’ll sign him even though he has no previous experience in English football let alone the top flight. For me the candidates have to be someone who plays in the English top flight and is young enough. This leaves very few people other than Hargreaves on the list. Probably Cahill, Nolan, Joey Barton(?), Gareth Barry, Mikael Arteta and Hargreaves himself.
Players in the same mould.. De Rossi, Mascherano ( i can hear you all but Benitez will be proven to be as shrewed as, gutted as I am to say that), Gattuso would have been perfect but as above, he has just signed a new contract… Cambiasso? Can be great, can be awful…
It’s a hard decision ;o)
Scholes is an absolute legend.Carrick is okay but no where near 18m.Great business by Fergie as he signed someone to replace Scholes and has the privalege to learn from the great.But we also need a replacement for Giggsy.These two guys when they eventually retire (hope they dont for a few more years) they will be missed massively.Difference between Man Utd and Real Madrid is we have a world class manager.He signed for the future.Real Madrid are rubbish.They miss Figo but more obviously Zidane.Trust Fergie because he knows what he is doing.Also get Larsson for the end of his career.Another piece of great business by Fergie.Man Utd are truely the best club in the world with the best manager in the world.
Bentley, Dyer and Scott Parker!!! Any of these in addition to Hargreaves would shore up the midfield!!! Lennon to replace Giggsy and De Rossi to replace Scholesy!!!
And i agree with MONT we are the BEST club in the world with an absolute genius as a manager…
Firstly Baptista and Cahill are both attacking midfielders, not defensive hard men, so there is no sense considering them. No chance Diarra will leave anytime soon, so that rules him out. Somehow i dont think Viera will come to United, despite Ahmed’s hopeful words. Gattuso is the PERFECT for United and he has said in the past that he likes United and has shown interest in playing football in the UK again, and the way AC are going right now i think its a big chance. Pirlo is a bit more like Carrick, slick passer of the ball rather than the one who does the dirty work. Other options ? Gravesen isnt enjoying life with the Bhoys and he has Premiership experience, so getting him on a short 2 yr contract till we find the man is a good option. Other than that you have Aldo Duscher, who i personally dont know much about and Christian Poulsen of Sevilla, who i think can be a good cheap long term option. And i honestly much rather see one of these guys over a striker next season.
if we cant get Hargreaves..(which i highly doubt) what about Scott Parker?? he’s doing alright with newcastle!!.. tough tackler and he’s english!!.. could be something great for England if these two guys play regularly as team mates!!.. Robben will be the answer for giggs.. with Ronaldo on the right.. Robben on the left and Rooney in the middle.. the 3 Rs.. we’ll be invinsible!!..
we need joey barton exellent midfielder, dunno how much he ll come to he s rival club though. i would love to see him with united!!
Kieron Richardson to replace Giggs
Presuming that the Hargreaves deal is only a matter of time, Utd still need cover for Giggs (still haven’t replaced Blomqvist) and still need one more striker in case Rossi and Smith don’t make the grade for next season. We should also bear in mind that Bale is also looking pretty likely so the budget will already be stretched. For Giggs cover I’d suggest Morten Gamst Pedersen from Blackburn (already settled locally and has prem experience) or Simao Sambrosa from Benfica. For up front if the budget permitted an unsettled Eto’o would be nice or give a run to local lad Frazier Campbell on loan at Royal Antwerp.
Ahmed i know you have a personal agenda over Evra and you have a passion for Heinze but surely after the Reading game you can see Evra is easily the best LB in the prem and Heinze(although a good player) isn’t as good DEFENSIVELY or attacking wise. When Evra came on you could see how much better we were with him in the team and how much better he was then Heinze. You may put this down 2 lack of games but Heinze has never been able to provide what Evra brings to the team. You said Heinze needs games but surely you must be able to admit now that he just hasn’t got the quality of Evra
baptista, cahill and pirlo? do u watch football??? These players are attacking midfielders and should not be compared to a ball winner ala hargreaves.
you need to think of players like makalele, senna, gilberto and gatusso - all of whom are either unavailable or high mileage. Parker is injury prone so forget him, nolan and barton are scousers so u can forget them too.
suppose there aren’t many holding players out there worth a mention so I would consider a box to box like appiah or reo coker
IMHO,
what is wrong with trying Heinze as an Owen replacement?
Robben for Giggs?
and, what about … Rooney for Scholes? (Rossi for Rooney)
This way, (if you keep Richardson/Park for Giggs), no need to sign players.
I can’t understand why everybody says that Carrick isn’t worth the money Sir Alex spend on him! United is in the top of teh Premiership and is playing wonderful football. Then it doesn’t matter how much we spend for a player, the only thing that matters is that we are winning games, and we are!
Kieron Richardson to replace Giggs ?
Kevin, keep sniffing the angel dust ;o)
I am of the opinion that alternatives for Hargreaves are Marcos Senna(Villarreal) or Pedro Mendes(Portsmouth).Giggs’replacements should be Pedersen(Blackburn)or Robben(Chelsea)!For Scholes,we should buy Papa Bouba Diop(Fulham)and Ronaldo should have Quaresma fighting for his position in the squad!
Id like a risk to be taken on some of our reserve team. In midfield there are Lee Martin, Jamie Mullan and Michael Barnes-3 wingers with bundles of pace and the ability to beat the last man. IN the Centre there are Ritchie Jones who is in a similar mold to carrick although slightly faster, Darron Gibson similar to a young Stevie Gerrard, Chris Eagles Deserves a chance (Darren Flethcer has been given long enough!) Floribert N’Guala is supposed to be the next Vieria, but brok is leg a while back so he hasnt’t played much. Up front, besdes Dong and Rossi, Aaron Burns is scoring for fun and Frazier Campbell likewise for Antwerp. Defensively they look solid with Jonny Evans, Danny Simpson, Darren Bardsley and Gerar Pique returning next year. Do we need to spend much more money. I would like to see them buy one world class player to put amongst the current squad and young players and the future looks very bright!
off the top of my mind, i’d look at the likes of de rossi and rio mavuba. they seem the brave sorts who don’t mind getting stuck into tackles. de rossi might not be cheap but mavuba would be a decent option i reckon. diarra would have been good, as would essien before him. as with ronaldinho and robben, we missed the bus there too…
i think i’ll go nurse my woes with a drink
I would say man united should keep richardson and play him in these league games against watford and west ham and i bet next season he will be one of the main attractions and please bring back rossi
Just for your own references, Keiran R is a natural Central midfielder. Look at his performance in the Under 21s when he came on, coupled with last season’s final game against Charlton. Pederson is not a replacement for Giggs, David Bentley could well be so. I would like to see Florent Malouda on the left flank of Man U. He is quick and decisive and never doubt the understanding that could be built up between him and Evra. Hargreaves is Man U material and there is no one else to quote except maybe Kevin nolan. Once upon a time I woiuld’ve said Clarence Seerdof. Realistically, those to are the only possibilities for the Man U midfield, anyone else would be a wishful purchase. However, if we lured Kaka away from AC Milan….That would be the capure of the decade ..in my opinion.
Can we also stop cracking on about Cahill, he is not in the mould of Scholes and is a lightweight for tackling
United need a quality midfielder and also a decent striker to partner rooney.
In midfield there are plenty of options that can or will be available. As much as i would like to see hargreaves in a united shirt, im not sure if he is worth 20m. Diarra is having real trouble findin form at madrid so he is a slight possibility. Aldo duscher is out of contract at the end of the year so a move for him could happen. While the likes of kevin nolan and david bentley might be targeted, they are just not the superstar centre midfielder that we so desperately crave.
Now onto the striker.
David Villa would be a great buy, he is very intelligent and knows where the goals are. Defoe is a possibility given his limited chances at tottenham. wat do u think
Bodmer, Barton, Arteta, Mahmodou Diarra, Parker are all worthy Hargeveas alternatives.
Xavi would be Scholes’ replacement
i think onli xavi and hagreaves is interested in fergie’s mind..
has anybody heard of Kerlon, who plays for Cruzeiro, I saw him play for them once and he was great, he is a central attacking midfielder but he can play on the wing or up front, he’s only 19 so i could see him as a long term replacement for scholes. Man Utd have been linked with him before when he was best player in the soccer club championship. But then they said they werent interested but i reckon hes great he’s been called the new ronaldinho there should be some vides of him on the wb on youtube and sites like that have a look. For a central defensive midfielder like hargreaves i would say jonathan de guzman could be an option hes 20 and he’s a key player for feyenoord rotterdam, i am not saying he’s the best alternative but bear in mind i am citing options i feel manu would be able to pursue. I think gattuso would be the ideal person but i dont see him leaving milan. also blaise matuidi who plays for troyes. Nuri Sahin is great, at 16 he was the yongest player to play in the bundesliga and the youngest to score in the bundesliga he plays for borrusia dortmund and can pplay defensive or attacking midfield. Samir Nasri is also great although hes an attacking midfielder. arsenal and inter a sposed to be going for him. Just some suggestions.
now that ive left a serious comment. I would looooooove it it gattuso came, for me he is the best player in the world, not the most fancy or with the most flair but he is unbelievably good. Also Kaka would be a great replacement for scholes and I’m not sure how quaresma would get on on the left opposed to the right but he’d be great replacement for giggsy. Sergio Ramos is an ideal replacement for gary neville and although i dont think we need him and he is old i would love to see nesta in a red shirt. Also heinze should be prefered to evra at left back and i dont see why we should need bale.Deco’ name is coming up a lot lately but i dont see wh he would want to leave barca after only 3 years. But i could see a slight chance becuse he left porto as soon as they won the champions league and now that barca won it last season maybe hes looking for a new challenge, as for strikers fernando torres could be good and i think he would make rooney play better because he is best when hes linking up with the other striker and not just putting balls into the box for a goal poacher to score them, also maybe rafael sobis or lukas podolski, i dont rate eto’o that highly but hes an option and i would most of all love alberto gilardino to join.