Manchester United Targets Modric and Bale: Will This Be the End of Carrick?

As we head on to the transfer season with just three games left in our hands, the managers (both wise and trying-to-be-wise ones) are ready to make a plunge for their hot targets. The teams are about to be strengthened and added with extra little stars or shading some weights to make the race for the next season.

Manchester United currently stands at the second position of the EPL with a chance to win their fourth consecutive title. While the team has proved time and again its standard and class, some things became loud and naked in the recent games. 

The aging players like Scholes and Giggs are no more a first team regular player, though Edwin Van Der Sar is still a thumbs-up for his position due to the substandard performances of the subs( and also for VDS's super performances). What comes out from the fog is that the team needs a new thrust of talents, especially on the attacking and play-making front.

While other rumors link United with the possibility of another striking option, in the form of Benzema (from Real Madrid) or Huntelaar (from Milan), this article deals with United's latest transfer link of making a bid for the Spurs duo. 

The Spurs left back and also the left winger at times, Gareth Bale, has been phenomenal this season. After Assou Ekotto missed a part of the game, Bale was brought to play as the left back. The 20-year-old Welsh footballer has been showered with plaudits as he has made his prominent mark in his resurgence for Spurs.

Bale is wonderful promising player, good in his right foot and great with his left foot. He showed his rising way in the goal against Chelsea where he made a fool out of Ferreira. He is tough, physically and mentally, and can pull the strings of attack and defense with equal ease and skill.

As Bale makes his way out of the superstitions of his unlucky image, his manager Harry Redknapp is clear about not letting him go in the next season. He is on his way of building a great team and he thinks Bale would be the future of the club. 

However, the United boss is interested in this promising talent and is set to enter into negotiations for that. Speculations say that the transfer price of Bale will be rising as high as his current performances, to an approx of about £15m. 

Records have the transfer of the Manchester midfielder Carrick from his former team Spurs, and this gives a slight edge to Sir Alex Ferguson in winning the bid over Bale if he plans to go for him finally. The United forward Berbatov is also a former Spurs player, indicating Fergie's winning negotiation skills over the Spurs players.

Now, when we look at the future of Bale at United, it will be better to consider him as an attacking winger than to play him as the left back. While Evra is fitted to his position and the addition of Bale along the left flank will provide a threat to the opponent's defense.

What comes out from this is, the addition of Bale will not only add strength to the team's left flank but also add variation in the team, where Nani and Bale can switch over sides during the game to bring more flow and pace to the game. Valencia will be an obvious choice for the manager when more attacks are needed.

Bale can also be played along the right flank to replace the old guard Neville, and thus the arrival of Bale at Old Trafford will add a multi-dimensional attitude to the team of the Red Devils. And aged at only 20, he has the potential to become the best left back or left winger in the EPL in the coming years. SAF will be the perfect man to make him so.

But most prominently what United lacks at the moment is the playmaker. 

Wayne Rooney is the powerhouse of the team who takes up immense workload to create the ball and also scoring it. The midfield has options like Carrick and Fletcher who are much suitable for defensive roles rather than play-making.

Luka Modric is the playmaker of his own kind. He has also been a standout player for the past seasons and the Croatian has been linked with moves away from White Hart Lane. He plays as an attacking central midfielder, and marks his presence in the game with his acceleration, range of passing and sound techniques.

This player, at 24, is in the making of another big star. Whilst at his former club Dinamo Zagreb, he was in a prolific form able to control the play from the central midfield. At Spurs, he may not be playing his best, the reason being Spurs not considered as one of the best till this year where they are on to the fourth position. However, Modric being need in a team like United goes without saying.

If Modric joins United for the next season, then United will have a strong central attacking playmaker whose presence will be a boon for forwards like Rooney. While the flanks in United are all set and the young generation is coming up as well, the defensive roles of Fletcher and Hargreaves will allow the scope and space to Modric to dominate the game.

United is said to offer back Carrick to Spurs as a part of their bid for the duo of Modric and Bale.

Carrick, at 28, moved to United from Spurs for a fee of about £18m. The player once known for his inventive passing ability and good crosses has slowly turned into a shadow and remained a silent part of the game. Slowly moving to the defensive duties for the team, we miss the old Carrick totally and perhaps that is why Sir Alex is thinking of selling him out this summer—perhaps to his old team Tottenham Hotspurs.

Though all of this still remains under speculation, the possibilities of the Spurs stars joining United at the season's end remains alive. The cash which Fergie will have in his hand for his transfer moves will have a major say in determining the fates of the players and clubs.

Most certainly, even if Carrick is offered as a part of the deal, still the cost of bringing in the duo will never be less for United. What remains to be seen is if the stars can rise to the challenge at Old Trafford.