Jamie Ireland
It seems as though Manchester United are on the verge of securing their first signing of the Louis van Gaal era, with the club willing to meet the player’s buy-out clause.
Sky Sports report that Manchester United are finally going to sign Athletic Bilbao’s Ander Herrera and will pay the £28 million release clause in his contract.
United have been after the 24 year-old midfielder for the past two transfer windows but they seem to have worn Bilbao down and also intrigued the player enough to make him want to leave.
Herrera will offer United the creative spark that they have been missing since the retirement of Paul Scholes, someone who can dictate the speed of a game.
He is intelligent on the ball and similar to Xavi and Iniesta, he has the ability to see the pass that other are unable to.
Former director of football at the Spanish Federation Fernando Hierro said he is the biggest talent he has ever seen at the youth level. That’s what I call a compliment!
So plenty for Manchester United fans to look forward to next season, but it does pose the question, where will he play?
If Louis van Gaal brings his 4-3-3 formation, there is only one ‘number 10’ role, which I believe Rooney will play in and that leaves the two controlling positions.
He would still fit in, but I believe he would not have the same effect as he does at Athletic Bilbao. It’s a similar to the Kagawa conundrum, playing out of position minimizes his effectiveness.
Nevertheless, a fantastic signing for Manchester United. But is it the big star-studded name that the fans were looking for?
