Transfer Rumours

Rumours had been flying on transfer targets for the Red Devils, with strikers & full backs mentioned mostly. Since Ole retired, Saha usually unfit & the youngsters still cannot make it, another striker is needed quite urgently. 3 names that appeared are: Berbatov, Benzema & Huntelaar.

Berbatov, the Bulgarian (50 caps, 31 goals), will be 27 in 2 weeks time. He played in the German league (scoring a goal every slightly more than 2 games) before going to Spurs (36 goals in 69 starts & 9 substitute appearances). He is skilful and reasonably fast cos of his long legs. He also possesses great passing abilities and positional awareness, but is a bit too sulky if he did not get to start games. He is at peak age and is able to come in and perform immediately, but his price tag is way too high considered his age.

Benzema, the French (8 caps, 3 goals), is only 20yrs 1 mth old. He played for Lyon in the French league (41 starts, 28 subs, 25 goals) and had been scoring at will this season. He is one for the future as he will probably take some time to settle to the fast-paced English game. He also needs to pump some iron to handle the big defenders.

Huntelaar, the Dutch (9 caps, 3 goals), is 24 yrs 5 mths old. He played for various clubs in Holland, latest being Ajax. His goal ratio is close to 1 per game in the past 3 seasons (19 goals in 22 games this season), but he is still not proven at the top levels. Dutch league players tend to score loads of goals (another remember Kezman?). He is at the age whereby if he is good enough, he will be out of Dutch league by end of this season. We shall see whether he is RvN or Kurt.