This is the way I see it. United is a long term project. I'd be extremely surprised if we seriously challenge for the EPL title in the next 2 seasons. This would push Maguire to 33, Varane to 32 and Lindelof to 31. As things stand Lindelof and Maguire already lack the pace to play a high line. Meanwhile Varane is injury prone and at 32 things can only get worse. These are players on the decline with huge salaries and contracts running out
Next summer the club is looking forward to have Martinez back and its evident that its putting branthwaite on top of their shortlist. Martinez certainly has experience and leadership while Branthwaite with his 6ft5 frame will add his aerial prowess to the mix. Both are EPL proven. Todibo on the other hand will probably become our 3rd CB on the condition that Varane and Maguire are sold while if Lindelof leaves we'll go for a cheap young CB (Anselmino?). All of these players are young, they are hungry, they are suited to the high tempo and they are relatively young which means that they'll hit their prime when United will be competing for the juicy stuff.
Now let's have a look at the salaries. Lindelof is on 6m+ a year, Maguire is on 8m+ a year while Varane is on an eye watering 17m+ a year as opposed to Anselmino on 500k a year, Todibo's 1m+ a year and Brantwaite on 3m+ a year. Assuming we double our new signings salaries then we look to spare 22m a year on salary alone. If we sell Maguire for 30m and Lindelof for 25m then in total we'll be recouping 77m between salaries and fees. Now Brantwaite is rated 70m, Todibo is 40m and Anselmino is 17m. That's 50m in red (give and take) for a new CB department that is suited to the modern game, they have the right mix of age and experience and will hit its prime when we do.
.
While zebras, donkeys and horses, all belong to the equine species, they each have distinct characteristics of their own. Zebras and donkeys are more closely related to each other than they are to horses.
The most notable difference between zebras and their domesticated cousins is that they are almost untrainable. There are very few instances where zebras have been taken out of the wild and accepted instructions from a human being.
The reason for this is that zebras have had to survive in Africa, where there are numerous large predators unlike their Eurasian cousins, who only really had wolves to deal with. This means that when cornered, they instinctively fight back a lot harder. Besides, who really wants to be riding around on a lion’s favourite prey?
Despite these differences, zebras, donkeys and horses all descended from a common ancestor. This creature, known as Eohippus, walked the earth on 5 toes, some 52 million years ago. It was a fox-like animal which thrived in a jungle environment, feeding on fruit and leaves.
As time marched on, Eohippus moved out of the jungle and onto the plains. Unable to scurry and hide from its prey any longer, the animal developed a need for speed. This was easier to achieve by running on its middle toe, the 3rd metacarpal. This toe eventually became more prominent than the others.
This creature evolved according to its environment, getting larger, faster and fonder of grazing as it moved up the evolutionary chain. As the animal underwent these changes, it became known by several other names – Orohippus, Epihippus, Mesohippus, Miohippus, Kalabatipus, Parahippus and Merychippus.
As these animals travelled through time, they became more and more like the modern horse – losing toes, growing longer legs, and developing teeth more suited to grazing. Merychippus is believed to be an ancestor of over 19 other grassland species as well as Dinohippus which evolved into the modern equine.
Disclaimer!! No metaphysical entities were proposed in the making of this post. 