[simonhla]

Being a fluent spanish speaker I have the luxury of perusing the SPanish press to see what rumours are floating around. SO it was with great interest that I read today's "Marca". In it is says that Valencia have confirmed they have received an offer of 25 Million Euros for David Silva from Manchester United.

The paper goes on to say that Ferguson wants to pair Silva and Ronaldo on the wings to feed a strike force of Rooney and Berbatov. Apparently the player's first choice is Barcelone but they have yet to make a decent offer and United's remains the best offer on the table. This summer Barca have already signed Dani Alves, Keita (from Sevilla) and Alex Hleb. They also look like keeping Samuel Eto'o so the press reckon that they may not bid for SIlva at all.

Valenica are in deep financial doo doo because they are building a new stadium but in the process they have somehow failed to sell the ground their current stadium is built on. This is quite ridiculous because having been there I can tell you that it is right in the centre of the city and in a really beautifull location. Either way, they have to start making loan repayments on the new construction and they can't hence one of Villa or Silva has to go. The payment is due next month.

They have been negotiating new contracts with both and it seems Villa has agreed his in principle and will stay, hence Silva will leave. However, if Madrid come in with a mega bucks offer for Villa he may yet go and therefore scupper any MUFC deal for Silva.....that is still a big if though.

So what do you guys think of singing this young Spaniard? He is very highyl rated in Spain and we've seen a fair bit of him in the Champions lEague already. I think he is 22. What if he is our only signing? I don't think anyone would complain if we bought him and Berbatov (or another striker). Either way it should be an interesting three weeks until the transfer window closes.

I have a good feeling again. Ronaldo is staying, and I must say even though he p*ssed me off this summer, there was something very refreshing about the honesty in his latest interview. He didn't try and lie to anyone and claim he never wanted to go to Madrid. He said he did and he explained why.......can't argue with that. Actually quite impressed.

Anyway, he's staying and deep down i am sure we are all pleased........middle finger to Madrid (yey!!) and Fergie has hinted we will likely have the new assistant in by end of the month. He also hinted he is likely to be a Portuguese speaker.....which I think sensible and exciting. And on top of all that I think we will soon have at least one big signing and perhaps even two.

Three years ago I thought the club was going to take some serious rebuilding and face a few years trailing in Chelsea's wake. That was a time when we were playing Giggs and O'shea in center midfield. That summer we signed just one player....Carrick. Not the player many of us thought we needed (we all wanted someone tougher like Gattuso.....someone more like Keane). But Scholes recovered from his eye problem and the club had a sensational season. Since then it has just got better and better, with some truely inspired and visionayr signings coming in......Anderson, nani etc.

It has to be said also that the club is bringing in some great youngsters that show a lot of promise. It's a shame the English lads in the academy aren't up to much but this isn't a charity so we have to bring in the best players we can even if they are all foreign.

Possebon and the Da Silva twins looks really excellent and I have high hopes for Petrucci (who we nabbed from Roma). My only regret is that we let Rossi go, although I suppose it was the only fair thing to do for the lad.

Last word tonight goes to Sicknote Saha. Unless he is used as a makeweight for either Berbatov, Silva or another high profile signing or we receive and offer above 8 or 9 M then I would keep him. As part of a squad rotation system if he can keep himself reasonably fit (should be easier with less games to play and less pressure as I think a lot of his problems stem from fragile personality....Fergie often mentions this confidence problem) then I think he will be very valuable asset. He is a quality player when in shape and would be great coming off the bench and over the course of the season, even with limited substitute appearances, can easily bag us ten goals. Plus having an able deputy for Rooney and Tevez (and who ever comes in) will be nice to keep things fresh. The two flying midgets played way too many games last year. Tevez alone must have run about a million miles.

[Dirtycheat]

wow, great post mate. Perhaps you should contact funkdoctorspock about writing in the blog if you would be interested in that.

Here is a source in english about the deal - Goal.com - Valencia - Ferguson Ready To Swoop For Silva?

Ive seen silva play in the euros and he was pretty impressive and it could perhaps imply that we are preparing ourselves to replace ronaldo. Im sure it will piss madrid off too because if they put in a bid for him then they probably need to sell sneijder or Robinho before putting in a bid for Ronaldo again.

I would rather have david villa to be honest and put him on some some growth hormones so that we have at least 1 tall striker in the club but silva is pretty good too.

With saha we musnt sell him unless we have someone to take his place. He is a good player but im not sure what he can do for us anymore. He is nearly 30 and injured all the time, his hamsting, knee and calf are just too flimsy. keane apparently put in 9million for him which is a great amount of money. Nearly as good as the richardson deal. lol

[funkdoctorspock]

Maybe its just me, but if United are looking to bring in Silva, that could only mean that Ronaldo is going to be gone after this season.

There is no way imo that Sir Alex would curtail Nani's progress. And truth be told, this really is the year that Nani is going to be made to step up and succeed the legend that is Ryan Giggs.

Now don't get me wrong. I think Silva is an extremely talented player. He was dynamite in Euros and I was able to catch him in the odd match for Valencia last season where he was quite good. But I just don't believe this transfer would happen unless Ronaldo goes.

With regards to Saha. I think its pretty safe to say that no team will want him in any make weight deal for a player United wants. From various articles, he wants to stay in England and teams like Bolton, West Ham, and Sunderland are in for him; with Saha apparently interested in Sunderland.

I really wish he could stay healthy for a long, long time. He just isn't capable though. If Sir Alex can get 7+ million for him, I really think its a no brainer but to sell.

As for the kiddies coming up the ranks... :O There is a lot of talent. A LOT. With the English Premier League finally increasing the bench from 5 to 7, I really hope we get to see some youngsters at the very least on the bench and in matches. They'll be able to train with the first team and gain valuable experience.

I'm hoping at the very least one youngster breaks through into the first team. The reason being is due to the fact that for many years in my opinion, the academy was used to sell to other teams. Think about this. The last player to "make it" into the first team is Darren Fletcher. And that was 9 years ago.

The talent is clearly there now. Possebon, Da Silva twins, Campbell for example. They need to be worked into the side. Especially early on with the injuries United have at the moment.

[simonhla]

But how much of that talent is true home grown talent? The very best of it, and there is no way around this, has been poached from abroad. Of the home grown crew Gibson looks pretty good, Campbell looks ok, Evans has a lot of promise and I hear great things about Wellbeck but none of them are going to set the world alight. MUFC have always given youngsters a chance provided they were good enough. How mahy young players have we let go in recen t memory that have gone onto do anything decent anywhere else? Only Rossi, but we knew he would.

Anderson has played a bunch of games this year and he is only 19. As has Nani and he is only 20. So youth always gets a shot as long as they are good enough. The standards in the premier league have risen beyond all recognitionin the last ten years. If the same crop of players from the golden generation came through now I honestly don't think players like Nicky Butt or Philip Neville would have any first team opportunities. Our squad is just so much stronger and the quality and demands so much higher that it is natural tha the academy will produce very few true stars or even squad players to make it through to the first team.

The role of the academy now is to attempt to produce one or two quality p-layers for the first team, to poach the best talent from around the globe that they can and to generate a decent quality annual turnover of players that can be sold onto other clubs for a decent income. My belief is that the club love giving a few games to players like Eagles or Campbell, then sending them out on loan a few times to not only gain experience but to alos burgeon their reputation and then to sell them on for anywhere between 1 to 7 million.

In the last three years we have seen loads of academy products who we have heard great things about, quietly slip out the door for small but not insignificant seven figure fees. This all mounts up. After all the club is just another business like anything else and I guarantee that the youth academy is turning a very nice profit. Look at the business they did on Pique and Rossi. Brought both in for nothing and then sold both on for combined fees around 14M. Great business and the club will keep looking around for players like that. Petrucci this summer for example, Macheda last. Possebon potentially....although he looks like he could be an actual fringe first teamer despite the stiff competition.

[simonhla]

Grabbed this from the Guillem Balague website this morning (respected Spanish journalist who often works with Sky Sports. (BTW great site for Spanish related news...has sources in most clubs)



Let me tell you the latest about David Silva. His representatives will meet with Valencia on Wednesday to decide upon his future. At this moment in time, there are only two clubs that have tabled an actual bid for the player. Barcelona are offering around 24 million euros, and Silva’s agents will argue that this is very reasonable: as the market is currently moving along around those kinds of figures (Ronaldinho- 25 million euros, Dani Alves 32 million, Amauri in a transfer valued at 21 million euros). Valencia will probably demand more from Barcelona, but I suspect that, in the end, they will eventually sell to Barcelona.


The second club is Manchester United: there was a meeting last Thursday between a group of lawyers representing the Old Trafford club and officials from Valencia. The Spanish side asked for 40 million euros for the player, but Manchester United were only prepared to offer €20 million.


I have the impression that Silva doesn’t particularly fancy going abroad, and that the only reason Barcelona have been unable to complete this transfer sooner, was because all the recent chaos and changes in the board room at the Mestalla had created an utterly confusing situation for everyone involved.



So there you have it fairly interesting that Utd table an official bid. That said it doesn't seem likely they will be signing him unless they significantly up their bid. Seeing as we have other priorities aI don't think that likely. Looks more to me like we tried to pick up a quality asset on the cheap because we know Valencia are forced to sell. Good idea i think but Barca see him as a legitimate target/priority.

[GocartMozart]

I'm sorry, but this sounds like another set of rubbish.

So Ronaldo and Silva, play the wings with Berba and Rooney? So we're getting both?

You're having a laugh.

Originally Posted by simonhla

Being a fluent spanish speaker I have the luxury of perusing the SPanish press to see what rumours are floating around. SO it was with great interest that I read today's "Marca". In it is says...

I really shouldn't have kept reading after that.

It''s quite simple. We need another forward and a defender or maybe a winger for next season. We do not need an expensive winger...THIS season. This off season has seen so many distractions, that we really need to refocus on what we need to do. That means get the forward, defend our titles, gain a FA Cup and flog the scouse. One missing piece let's us do that.

[Dirtycheat]

Originally Posted by GocartMozart

I'm sorry, but this sounds like another set of rubbish.

So Ronaldo and Silva, play the wings with Berba and Rooney? So we're getting both?

You're having a laugh.



I really shouldn't have kept reading after that.

It''s quite simple. We need another forward and a defender or maybe a winger for next season. We do not need an expensive winger...THIS season. This off season has seen so many distractions, that we really need to refocus on what we need to do. That means get the forward, defend our titles, gain a FA Cup and flog the scouse. One missing piece let's us do that.

I think Ronaldo's departure is imminent. in the next season or two its likely he will leave. Would it not make sense to have someone in place to replace him as soon as he goes?

There is some truth behind this story because it made silva come out and say that he will only leave for barca.

I agree that we need another striker (maybe even 2 if we offload saha) however, i think our defence is pretty good now that neville is back, we kept silvestre and we got evans back from sunderland.

[robertbrian23]

david silva's agent told the press that he wants to play in spain. if it is true, this transfer would really won't happen.