Manchester United: Yann M'Villa and Five Other Young Centre-Mid Transfer Options
We are less than a month into the transfer window, yet the ripples of Manchester United’s financial muscle have already reverberated around the Premiership. Sir Alex Ferguson has moved hard and fast in the market to assert his dominance over his benign rivals, so much so that even the normally kamikaze Sheik Mansour has been left in the shade.
In hindsight, when you look at the three transfers that, according to reports, are already in the bag, you can see a patently obvious focus on youth (Phil Jones 19, David de Gea 20, Ashley Young 25). It has long been claimed that this transfer window, Sir Alex is looking to build the last great team of his Old Trafford dynasty, a team that will outlive their aging custodian and give the red devils sustainability for years to come.
The spine of that team is very much in place, with the defence and goalkeeper now at the club (the Da Silva twins, De Gea, Chris Smalling and Jones) and Rooney and Hernandez up front, yet the central midfield is an obvious faux pas. The most obvious suitors for the role—Tom Cleverly and Ravel Morrison—both have question marks over their aptitude for the role. Cleverley is very much untested at United, having spent much of his juvenile career on loan at a successions of smaller and lower league clubs, while Morrison, to put it bluntly, has a questionable attitude (and an enamour with his apparent gang-land connections).
So there is at least one space in the Red Devils roster for a young man who can contribute to the continued legacy of the great Manchester United. The most widely accepted targets Wesley Sneijder and Luka Modric, while both prodigiously talented footballers, do not really adhere to this youth policy. Hypothetically speaking, the reason neither has been signed as yet (apart from their sizable fees) is as a result of Fergie’s predisposition with this youth policy, these six players could well fit the bill.
Please note: The requisites for the list were that the player were 23 or under, a central or attacking central midfielder and most importantly, a feasible transfer for Manchester United. It is for this reason that players like Javier Pastore (ludicrous asking price of £44 million) and Jack Wilshire (completely unrealistic transfer target), do not make the list despite being undoubtedly very talented footballers.
Feel free to argue or clarify as you see fit, and please do identify which of the six you would like at the club. Enjoy.
Miralem Pjanic: Lyon: Age 21: Bosnian
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Of all the players listed, Pjanic currently plays for the most esteemed club and would therefore, one might assume, prove hardest to extradite. However, as a member of Olympique Lyonais, deposed Ligue 1 champions and perennial European also-rans, perhaps it would not be as hard as you might assume.
The young Pjanic was born in Tuzla, a district of Bosnia and Herzegovina (which was at that point a subsidiary of the Yugoslavian empire), and looked set to follow in the footsteps of his father, a former pro-footballer, from an early age.
Pjanic joined current club Lyon in 2008 after a successful first season with Ligue 1 side Metz. He has since gone on to form the creative hub of Lyon’s attacking unit, wading in with nine goals from his 87 first team appearances.
Although Pjanic began the 2010/2011 season starting for Claude Puel’s Lyon, after the arrival of French International Yoann Gourcuff, Pjanic was used increasingly from the bench. While he managed to reassert his claim on first team affairs once more towards the end of the season, perhaps, at 21 years of age the time is right for Pjanic to aid his development with a move to an altogether more red setting.
Steven Defour: Standard Liege: Age 23: Belgian
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At 23, Defour is the oldest player on this list; however, he is well known to United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, after the supremo sent the Belgian a get-well-soon card after the midfielder broke his right foot—and was subsequently out for a year—in 2009.
Since returning from injury in 2010, Defour has set about reminding the world what they were missing in 2009, with some all-action displays. With such strong form being shown, recently rumours have been whirring about a potential move for the Belgian from the Old Trafford club, and Defour has done nothing to dampen speculation, claiming that he “knew Manchester United were watching him” and that there was “a better chance of him leaving next season if I continue to play well."
Defour was handed the Standard captaincy at the tender age of 19, holding the position for the last four years, which has helped him to mature as a leader as well as a footballer. Now, aged 23, it could well be time to step up into the big league, and I, for one, wouldn’t be surprised if a card sent two years ago clinches his destination. Fergie, you genius!
Yann M'Villa: Rennes: Age 20: French
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Yann M’Villa is a full French international who came to prominence in the new era of French football after the debacle of their 2010 World Cup farce. According to reports back in March from the Daily Mail, United had earmarked the stocky 20-year-old as a potential remedy to their ailing midfield, a move which led the young Frenchman to proclaim that he was “ready to answer the call."
The midfielder broke into the Rennes first team in 2009 as an initial replacement for the suspended Junichi Inamoto. M’Villa completed the whole of that game, and despite a sending off in his next competitive match, the following week against Lens, remained a first-team mainstay for the rest of the 09/10 season.
This season, M’Villa’s performances yielded a nomination for the prodigious UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year, although he eventually lost out in the voting to French national teammate Mamadou Sakho.
Although not known for his goal-scoring—a stat that three career goals in two full professional season lays testament to—M’Villa’s propensity to his defensive duties would be a perfect foil for the attacking inclinations of much of United’s midfield. Although Rennes finished a respectable sixth In Ligue 1 last season, a United move, should the champions decide to approach, would be hard to rebuff for the French side. However, as M’Villa’s current contract doesn’t expire until the end of the 2015 season, the price garnered for their star asset will be at a premium—perhaps 15-20 million.
Christian Eriksen: Ajax: Age 19: Danish
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Christian Eriksen was a relative unknown to those not in the know until his man-of-the-match performance in Denmark’s plucky 2-1 loss to England back in February drew praise from all quarters. After the match, England stars Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand, among others, were quick to massage young Eriksen’s ego, speaking in glowing terms of the manner in which the 19-year-old taught England’s pampered pre-Madonna’s a lesson (Lampard and Ferdinand obviously didn’t call themselves and their teammates pampered pre-Madonna’s; that would have been weird).
The young Dane is already drawing comparisons with the last great Danish central midfielders, the Laudrup brothers, Brian and Michael.
Currently playing for recently crowned Eredivisie champions FC Ajax, Eriksen's signature is not unattainable, a la Wilshere. However the major stumbling block would surely seem to be the sheer volume of interest in the Young Dane, with the interested clubs reading like a who’s who of the world footballing superpowers. This astronomical interest is inevitably lead to an over-inflated transfer price for the Dane, yet with Ferguson’s stringent adherence to what he sees as "value," perhaps Eriksen could become priced out of a move to Old Trafford.
Jack Rodwell: Everton: Age 20: English
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Ferguson’s appreciation of the young Rodwells’ talents is well publicised, as the Red Devils boss has been courting the Everton defensive midfielder for the last two years. Rodwell, who can also play in the centre of defence, was born in Southport joining the Mersey club’s youth system at the age of seven.
Rodwell, over the past few seasons, but particularly in the 2010/11 campaign, has been used by David Moyes, to offset the attacking penchants of Everton’s Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta. However, in the second half of the season, as the injury curse that so commonly blights Everton’s season took a number of Everton’s key players away from the field, Rodwell was employed in a more elevated capacity further up the field.
Those in the know feel that it is only a matter of time before Rodwell is given the opportunity to complete the full sweep of England international honours with a call up to Fabio Cappelo’s first team, and a move to United could well be the ticket that gets him there.
The major obstacle that I can envisage to a Rodwell transfer to United would be the presence of a certain Phil Jones, signed recently from Blackburn for a cool 17 million. At a year younger than Rodwell, Jones could perform a very similar role at United that the Everton man would, as Jones, while a centre-back by trade, can also play defensive midfield. Whether Sir Alex Ferguson can create enough space for both in the squad is an eventuality that raises questions about the viability of Rodwell’s propective transfer.
Mario Gotze: Borrusia Dortmund: Age 19: German
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A technically gifted attacking midfielder, who the German football association's director Matthias Sammer called “one of the most technically gifted players we have ever had," Gotze’s is a rising stock.
An ever-present in the un-fancied Dortmund side that tore the Bundesliga asunder last season, the 19-year-old has been monitored by all the world’s top clubs. Already a German international, the young man from Memmingen in Germany’s Swabia region looks destined for greatness.
Gotze came through the German club’s youth academy since being initiated into the system at the tender age of eight, before making his debut towards the start of the 09/10 season. He made his international debut almost exactly a year later, at only 18 years of age (he only turned 19 this month), and has since gone on to amass six German caps.
At only 19 years of age, Gotze would have the time and facility to grow into United’s attacking system and shape the Red Devils and Germanys play for years to come. The major obstacle on a cursory glance, though, appears to be the reticence of German players to leave their homeland (only Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira of the current German national team ply their trade outside of Germany—at Real Madrid), and whether Gotze would be willing to buck the trend remains to be seen.
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