Over the years the crème de la crème of European football’s top clubs have been criticised for poaching young talent not only from abroad but from smaller clubs in their own domestic leagues. This has happened for years, believe it or not.
Of course this is just parcel and parcel in today’s football and clubs who are not challenging for major trophies will know that their job – aside from aiming to challenge for trophies or get up into a higher league – is to bring on young players and sell them on.
Manchester United over the years are not used to selling or losing out on young talent, especially talent that the club has nurtured for several years. But for every talented player in the reserves, there are always a number of players that are sold or released who do go on and secure good careers for themselves elsewhere.
Ravel Morrison’s departure in the January transfer-window to West Ham United was somewhat self-inflicted with the talented forward moving on due to believed disciplinary problems. Paul Pogba’s departure to Juventus has been on the cards for the last year or so and he was clearly a player the club would have wanted to hold onto.
Ezekiel Fryers it seems is about to become Andre Villas-Boas’ second signing for Spurs amid rumours that the teen anger who made 6 first-team appearances for United last season has decided against signing a new contract.
It will be a blow to lose Fryers who looks a natural defender with a lot of potential to a fellow Premier League club, especially as with Fabio going out on-loan to QPR; it will leave only one senior left-back at the club in Patrice Evra.
However if Fryers feels that he has got more of a chance of playing regularly at Spurs who will face tweaks to their squad under Villas-Boas then you can understand his reason in wanting to leave. Yes an increase in his wages may come into it but a playing career is short but if he feels that he can play more there (and not just in Carling Cup ties) then who can really blame him.
He is unlikely to get in ahead of Evra and in all likelihood when the Frenchman moves on, the club will bring in an experienced left-back (possibly Everton’s Leighton Baines) to either replace him or challenge with Fabio for the left-back position.
Of course Spurs have an excellent left-back in Benoit Assou-Ekotto who has excelled playing behind Gareth Bale so Fryers is unlikely to start if he does move down south. At the very least he will gain experience coming of the bench or perhaps going out on loan, so in the short-term he won’t benefit much from leaving Old Trafford. But he could perhaps in the long-term, only time will tell.
By Adam Dennehey @ADennehey87
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