Manchester United are expected to open contract talks with several players in the coming weeks as the club begin a critical phase of long-term planning over the next seven months. This will feature an extensive reshaping of the first-team squad.
Six senior players are out of contract at the end of the season and a further ten have less than 18 months left on their deals.
Of the six out of contract in the summer, at least four will leave the club. Edwin van der Sar and Gary Neville, the goalkeeper and club captain respectively, are preparing to retire, while Owen Hargreaves, the perennially injured midfield player, will not be offered a new deal. United are not expected to take up the option of a third year in Michael Owen’s contract, which would leave the striker a free agent.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, is likely to sit down with Paul Scholes towards the end of the season to determine the 36-year-old midfield player’s thoughts about carrying on and David Gill, the chief executive, indicated yesterday that another veteran, Ryan Giggs, will, at 37, be offered a new one-year contract, saying that the situation would be “addressed in the next month or so”.
A similar situation applies to Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher, who are likely to be the first of that large group of players out of contract in June 2012 to open discussions about new deals.
Carrick’s days at Old Trafford appeared to be numbered as recently as a few months ago, but his form has improved. While the prospect of the England midfield player leaving in the summer cannot be discounted, a meeting has been arranged for the next few weeks to begin preliminary talks about an extension to his contract.
Negotiations will also begin with Fletcher’s advisers about a new deal for the Scotland captain. Dimitar Berbatov, the striker, Park Ji Sung, the midfield player, and John O’Shea, the defender, turn 30 in the next few months and United are thought to be happy to wait until the end of the season to address their futures, with all of them eager to stay at the club.
A meeting with O’Shea’s representatives to discuss a contract extension has been pencilled in for May or early June.
Wes Brown, the defender with whom Ferguson fell out after a run-in last summer, and Tomasz Kuszczak, the goalkeeper, will not be offered new deals and are firmly expected to be sold, if not this month then in the summer. Uncertainty surrounds the futures of Patrice Evra and Ritchie de Laet, the full backs, and Darron Gibson, the midfield player, who are also out of contract in June next year.
With Van der Sar, Neville, Hargreaves and Owen on their way out and Scholes yet to decide what the future holds, Ferguson could see as many as ten senior players leave the club in the summer, a cull that will pave the way for a raft of signings.
Evra’s situation is of the most immediate concern to United, although the France left back’s agent, Federico Pastorello, said a fortnight ago that talks about a new deal were on hold until the summer.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are monitoring Evra’s situation closely and United have been actively scouring the market for a left back in case the Frenchman leaves, with Fábio Coentrão, of Benfica and Portugal, one potential target.
Gill insisted yesterday that United are still able to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Real for the world’s best players, even though he suggested that the club were unlikely to deviate from their policy of signing emerging talents rather than established stars. “We can compete for top players,” Gill said.
“People say we don’t, but we have bought well and our goal at Manchester United is to make sure we develop our own players and also buy good players.”
Asked if United had the funds to sign a player of the calibre of Kaká, the Real forward, should someone such as that become available, Gill added: “If we wanted to. Over time, if you follow Manchester United, you will know we have rarely bought the world star. We have made them world stars by playing for Manchester United and that will continue.”
United have a strong interest in Jordan Henderson, the Sunderland and England midfield player, as well as Jack Rodwell, of Everton, both of whom have been monitored closely, but they are likely to face competition from City and Arsenal for both players.
Ferguson has already recruited Anders Lindegaard, the Denmark goalkeeper who signed from Aalesund for £3.5 million this month, but the manager is in the market for another goalkeeper, with David de Gea, of Atlético Madrid, a leading candidate to replace Van der Sar.
United are also thought to be keeping tabs on Ashley Young, the Aston Villa forward, who is out of contract at Villa Park in 18 months.
Ferguson is eager to ensure that the foundations are in place for when he does leave the club, although Gill refused to be drawn yesterday on whether José Mourinho, the Real coach formerly in charge of Chelsea and Inter Milan, would be in the running to replace the Scot eventually.
“Alex is on a rolling contract, he is on the record as saying that he will continue to manage as long as he keeps fit so, in answer to the question, while we follow what is happening in football, I am not going to sit here today and say who we have in mind because we don’t know what the time frame is,” Gill said.
“I am sure there are some other good managers around. [Mourinho is] a good manager.”
This is an article in today's times.
Personally Moyes is still my favourite to replace SAF.
Forgive me administrators is there's a thread already started.
Six senior players are out of contract at the end of the season and a further ten have less than 18 months left on their deals.
Of the six out of contract in the summer, at least four will leave the club. Edwin van der Sar and Gary Neville, the goalkeeper and club captain respectively, are preparing to retire, while Owen Hargreaves, the perennially injured midfield player, will not be offered a new deal. United are not expected to take up the option of a third year in Michael Owen’s contract, which would leave the striker a free agent.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, is likely to sit down with Paul Scholes towards the end of the season to determine the 36-year-old midfield player’s thoughts about carrying on and David Gill, the chief executive, indicated yesterday that another veteran, Ryan Giggs, will, at 37, be offered a new one-year contract, saying that the situation would be “addressed in the next month or so”.
A similar situation applies to Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher, who are likely to be the first of that large group of players out of contract in June 2012 to open discussions about new deals.
Carrick’s days at Old Trafford appeared to be numbered as recently as a few months ago, but his form has improved. While the prospect of the England midfield player leaving in the summer cannot be discounted, a meeting has been arranged for the next few weeks to begin preliminary talks about an extension to his contract.
Negotiations will also begin with Fletcher’s advisers about a new deal for the Scotland captain. Dimitar Berbatov, the striker, Park Ji Sung, the midfield player, and John O’Shea, the defender, turn 30 in the next few months and United are thought to be happy to wait until the end of the season to address their futures, with all of them eager to stay at the club.
A meeting with O’Shea’s representatives to discuss a contract extension has been pencilled in for May or early June.
Wes Brown, the defender with whom Ferguson fell out after a run-in last summer, and Tomasz Kuszczak, the goalkeeper, will not be offered new deals and are firmly expected to be sold, if not this month then in the summer. Uncertainty surrounds the futures of Patrice Evra and Ritchie de Laet, the full backs, and Darron Gibson, the midfield player, who are also out of contract in June next year.
With Van der Sar, Neville, Hargreaves and Owen on their way out and Scholes yet to decide what the future holds, Ferguson could see as many as ten senior players leave the club in the summer, a cull that will pave the way for a raft of signings.
Evra’s situation is of the most immediate concern to United, although the France left back’s agent, Federico Pastorello, said a fortnight ago that talks about a new deal were on hold until the summer.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are monitoring Evra’s situation closely and United have been actively scouring the market for a left back in case the Frenchman leaves, with Fábio Coentrão, of Benfica and Portugal, one potential target.
Gill insisted yesterday that United are still able to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Real for the world’s best players, even though he suggested that the club were unlikely to deviate from their policy of signing emerging talents rather than established stars. “We can compete for top players,” Gill said.
“People say we don’t, but we have bought well and our goal at Manchester United is to make sure we develop our own players and also buy good players.”
Asked if United had the funds to sign a player of the calibre of Kaká, the Real forward, should someone such as that become available, Gill added: “If we wanted to. Over time, if you follow Manchester United, you will know we have rarely bought the world star. We have made them world stars by playing for Manchester United and that will continue.”
United have a strong interest in Jordan Henderson, the Sunderland and England midfield player, as well as Jack Rodwell, of Everton, both of whom have been monitored closely, but they are likely to face competition from City and Arsenal for both players.
Ferguson has already recruited Anders Lindegaard, the Denmark goalkeeper who signed from Aalesund for £3.5 million this month, but the manager is in the market for another goalkeeper, with David de Gea, of Atlético Madrid, a leading candidate to replace Van der Sar.
United are also thought to be keeping tabs on Ashley Young, the Aston Villa forward, who is out of contract at Villa Park in 18 months.
Ferguson is eager to ensure that the foundations are in place for when he does leave the club, although Gill refused to be drawn yesterday on whether José Mourinho, the Real coach formerly in charge of Chelsea and Inter Milan, would be in the running to replace the Scot eventually.
“Alex is on a rolling contract, he is on the record as saying that he will continue to manage as long as he keeps fit so, in answer to the question, while we follow what is happening in football, I am not going to sit here today and say who we have in mind because we don’t know what the time frame is,” Gill said.
“I am sure there are some other good managers around. [Mourinho is] a good manager.”
This is an article in today's times.
Personally Moyes is still my favourite to replace SAF.
Forgive me administrators is there's a thread already started.
At the time it was being justified as a loyalty payment wasn't it?