No Berbatov means no striker; what on earth have the scouts been doing?
August 22, 2008
It looks like United have put all their eggs in one basket this summer and if we fail to sign Berbatov, we fail to sign a striker. I am somewhat surprised that with such a clear need for an out and out striker, the scouts of United have managed to pinpoint only one potential target. Yes we are always hearing paper talk linking us with a Huntelaar, a Benzema or the once great Gooner Thierry Henry but when it comes down to it, if Spurs wont budge on the crazy £30 million price tag they have put on Berbatov’s head, it looks like we’ll be defending our title with a smaller squad than we had last term.
After last summer’s early transfer activity, most of us were expecting any summer dealings to be wrapped up pretty sharpish but no such deals have been made; instead we have heard all summer that things are happening on the transfer front. On more than one occasion, Ferguson has stated his expectance of an arrival in the striker department, however today when asked how he is feeling compared to a couple of weeks ago, Ferguson replied:
“I’m feeling less optimistic right now. We are looking at something, but if it doesn’t come off then we will carry on as we are.”
There is no questioning the quality of our current squad but how many goal machines do we have? Ronaldo is one, but he is injured at the moment and not a striker. Wayne Rooney is coming back to fitness but is not the 25 goal a season striker we need and Tevez is a very similar player. Both bring a lot to the club, but with the right team around them could offer so much more. To back them up we have Saha who if he could stay fit would ease our minds but we all know he’ll be injured for at least half the season. Then there is Fraizer Campbell who looks like he can be a great striker but is far too young and inexperienced to be considered a regular in the team.
Take out Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez and last year’s scoring chart looks less than a bit dismal. Saha managed five goals, Nani bagged four and our top scorer after that was Rio Ferdinand with 3 (Giggs also hit 3). In Fact, without Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo, the rest of the squad managed just 28 goals between them.
What we need is another Van Nistelrooy and the arrival of any such player will not only bring more goals to our club but will allow both Rooney and Tevez to play their games. When you have two fantastic players who are so good playing off the front man, it seems almost criminal to have no front man!
More that may interest you
- Louis Saha staying at Manchester United?- United’s attacking options: accommodating Berbatov
- Everton agree deal to sign Louis Saha
- Alex Ferguson finally gets his man. Dimitar Berbatov signs for Manchester United
