Finally Van Der Sar joins United
..and it disappoints me immensely! Don’t get me wrong, Van Der Sar is a great keeper, but he is past his prime and will only last another year or two – United were trying to sign him in 1999, when Schmeichel left, but Van Der Sar chose to join Juventus back then. Well, now we got him.
My choice for the post would have been Swedish international Andreas Isaksson who is currently at Rennes. He is young and very similar to Chelsea’s Petr Cech, who is probably the best keeper in the world right now.
The only logical reason for this transfer is that Sir Alex Ferguson still believes that Tim Howard can be good enough, but needs a few years under the wing of an accomplished keeper, which is exactly what Var Der Sar can bring.
Also in the news today, United are chasing Real Zaragoza striker David Villa, whom I know absolutely nothing about. I must admit that chasing a striker at a time when the midfield could use some coverage seems pretty strange to me – also because there are more than enough strikers at United: Saha, Rooney, Smith, Nistelrooy and The O.G. Also, Rossi is one of the hottest young prospects out there, so why on earth move for a striker, unless some of them are on their way out??? Saha is the one most likely to go, and unfortunately the club could see Ole Gunnar as being past is, so he could move on also. There have been rumours about Nistelrooy going to Madrid and Michael Owen going the other way, but I think Madrid would have to pay some cash on top of that, and the deal is unlikely to go through.
The top midfield choice, Lyon’s Essien, is on his way to – who else – Chelsea, so who else to go for? There have been talks about Essien’s midfield partner at Lyon, Juninho, but I am not sure he would fit into United.