Is Wes Brown as valuable as Patrice Evra to Manchester United?
Alex Ferguson has blasted Wes Brown’s agent for poisoning his client’s mind. The club have reportedly offered 40k / week while the agent has Brown holding out for a bigger contract. Ferguson has stated that United will not budge from their offer and that Brown needs to respect his ties to the club and listen to his fellow players (a pointed reference to Giggs and Neville) instead of listening to his agent.
With Neville nearing the end of his career and Simpson still an year or two away from first-team football (the Brazilian brothers are in the same boat), Wes Brown is Manchester United’s premier right-back (for better or for worse). He is not as important to the squad as Vidic or Rio, but he is arguably as important as Patrice Evra if you consider Brown’s ability to slot in at center-back (even though we have O’Shea and Pique there, Brown is, at the moment, better than those two).
Once again (because someone will get mad at this) - I’m not saying that Brown is as good a fullback as Evra - I’m saying that even if Evra is a better fullback, Brown has the added advantage of being first-choice backup for the 2 center-backs and that increases his value.
Patrice Evra’s contract renegotiations are still ongoing, and again, this is just my view, Manchester United will probably offer him a contract on par with what Heinze was given when he was at United. Despite my criticism of Patrice Evra, I’m glad to say that he has improved remarkably as defender, and fully deserves the plaudits he has received this season and the last.
So is Wes Brown holding out for wage parity with other players he considers equal to himself (in importance if not in ability) or is his agent just pushing for more money so he can get a bigger paycheck himself?
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Discussion - 4 Responses
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SAF has been very polite with Wes. He should now come clean and say “you’re good but not that good”. I think he’s been offered 40K a week (2 million a year) and he or his agent knows that it will cost 5 million+ to get someone else in. It’s time to put your foot down Fergie. No one holds the club to ransom. What you are paid depends on how good you are.
he should just shut up and sign up, sure he’s having one good season for us, but if you’ll remember some of his past displays woeful would be an understatement. he’s a squad player, why? because he f**ks up, have a close look at the goals we concede, it’s either someone he should’ve been marking, or *was* marking. personally i’ll be happy to see the back of him. most overrated player i know,
Wes got 50k per week offer and if you ask me it is pretty realistic. On the other hand, it is the fact that as a free agent he will get more then that at Newcastle or lot of other clubs. We are also looking for better offer when we decide where to work and it should be similar for him. He gave 12 best years to United and I do not think that money is all the matters in this case. He is holding regular right back position only because Neville is injured. It is well known that Fergi is looking to find a long terma replacement for Gery at right flank and that he does not see Wes as one. Wes is having excellent season, but still he is not as good when attacking as United need him to be. When Gery is back, or when Ferguson sign another right back similar to Evra (who fully fits in the United game), I doubt that Wes will see a lot of first team actions. Even at centre back with Pique and Evans on the door, he is not the only possible backup. If Wes wants playing time in the next couple of years then leaving Old Trafford is the best option. Unfortunately it is, as Wes will always be one of mine favorite players, but to be honest he lacks a quality for United.
Djoca, rightly so. Wes Brown lacks composure and with his versatility, he is no more than a squad player. For me, he lacks the pace and technical ability to be a top quality right back and the composure to be consider a quality centre-back. It is a shame considering the type of potential he showed when he partnered Jaap Stam. United will be better off getting a replacement for him than paying over the odds for the type of service he provides.As for Evra, he is currently indispensible to the squad just on the fact that there is no replacement for him at the moment. It would cost more to replace him than to replace Brown.