Manchester United Transfers: 5 Potential Replacements for Park Ji-Sung

By (Featured Columnist) on July 17, 2012

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Manchester United will find it hard to replace a player like Park Ji-Sung, but they will try.

The South Korean midfielder ended a successful seven-year spell with the Red Devils when he signed for QPR this summer.

While Park Ji-Sung wasn't a world-class star for the squad, he always played in the big games and his versatility across midfield was, along with his fitness and work ethic, made him a great player. A loss of pace and a lack of playing time led to his departure.

For this list we tried to find players who were close to Park in terms of his previous championship experience with PSV and his talents on the pitch. While not every player will be close, nor have they all been linked to the club, they all have their attributes which make them suitable replacements.

Here are 5 potential replacements for Park Ji-Sung.

Hernanes

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Paolo Bruno/Getty Images

Hernanes hasn't been linked to the club in any rumours thus far but the Brazilian certainly has a similar versatility to Park Ji-Sung, which would make him a good asset for the club.

Hernanes does have two Brazilian league championships during his time with Sao Paulo and was the Brazilian player of the year in 2008 but he still may not bring the same type of impact as Park did.


Kevin Prince-Boateng

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Claudio Villa/Getty Images

Kevin Prince-Baoteng has been really impressive while at AC Milan and does have knowledge of the EPL.

The energetic Ghanian would definitely be a great fit in terms of his positional play, but he may not be too interested in being the same type of squad player that Park Ji-Sung was.

According to the Metro, Manchester United was interested in him earlier this year, though the recent departure of Thiago Silva and coming departure Zlatan Ibrahimovic may make this rumour even more unlikely.

Ivan Rakitic

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Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Ivan Rakitic has similar qualities to Croatian teammate Luka Modric, who was linked to the club, and has tons of versatility as well. He wouldn't be as quick as Park Ji-Sung, though the South Korean wasn't the quickest around, but has the work ethic to be a great help on both ends of the pitch.

Rakitic had some good performances for Croatia in Euro 2012 with two coming from the wings and one coming in a central position against Spain.

The club was linked with a move for the player in January of 2011, but he just finished his first season with Sevilla and a move may not be in the cards so soon.

Renato Augusto

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Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

Renato Augusto has been a constant fixture for Bayer Leverkusen since joining the German club in 2008.

The Brazilian has had a few injury-laden seasons, which may be a problem, but when fit he is capable of filling Park Ji-Sung's role.

Christian Eriksen

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Joern Pollex/Getty Images

Christian Eriksen would be expected to do much more than replace Park Ji-Sung given his talents. The young Danish midfielder has been linked to Manchester United.

Eriksen can play fill in a couple positions in midfield and, despite being the youngest player on this list, he has loads of experience.

Eriksen wouldn't come at the bargain fee that Park Ji-Sung did but should equal, and most likely surpass, his achievements with his skills.

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