Manchester United have already completed the signing of two players this summer – Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw and according to the media, this in no way will be the end of the players brought in by Louis Van Gaal. Manchester United are still in the market – or should be – for another centre back, possibly a right back and another central midfield player at the least. When looking at the current squad, with Ryan Giggs now retired and the aging Michael Carrick & Darren Fletcher still pushing for a first team place, it is clear that United do need strengthening in the middle of the park, and another central midfielder to pair with Ander Herrera looks like a necessity.
With the majority of the Dutch squad being reported to be linked with United at various times during this World Cup – Dirk Kuyt!?!?- United have been linked with a variety of midfielders lately with William Carvalho, Sami Khedira and Nigel de Jong receiving the most column inches. Although it is is Arturo Vidal that United fans are most excited about, below we look at the latest on where The Red Devils are with their potential next midfield signing.
Arturo Vidal : 27 years old – Juventus & Chile
Long touted as a possible Manchester United signing, Vidal has impressed many with his performances for Chile at the World Cup during their impressive run to the final 16 of the tournament. Vidal is a midfielder of the old breed, a box-to-box midfielder with incredible stamina and fitness, who is just as comfortable putting in a tackle, as he is marauding forward through the middle of the pitch causing problems on the edge of the box. United fans could most liken him to a Bryan Robson, and that type of complete midfielder who is comfortable at both ends of the pitch is someone that they haven’t seen at Old Trafford since the early days of Roy Keane.
Vidal’s performances have potentially attracted many other top European clubs looking to vie for his signature, including Chelsea, Arsenal, Monaco and Bayern Munich. However, Turin based newspaper Tuttosport reported on Monday that if Vidal were to move from Juventus, he would prefer a move to England and more importantly, a move to Old Trafford. Many of the British papers picked up on the story, with the The Daily Star reporting just that.
One potential stumbling block to this move is that the price being touted for Vidal is over 48 million pounds as reported by the Guardian. Louis Van Gaal is known to be an admirer of the Chilean star and I feel it is the perfect midfield signing for United and put the chances of this happening at around 50-60%.
