We are only days away from the start of the 2009/10 Premier League season and we are still been linked with players. Both Man United’s Chief Executive (David Gill) and manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) have said that there will be no more signings this summer but the press continue to link us to players.
Man United’s main goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar is injured and he will be out for around two months. United’s second goalkeeper Ben Foster had a bit of a nightmare in the Community Shield match against Chelsea and Tomasz Kuszczak is not highly rated by the press. That now means that we are once again being linked to some top goalkeepers.
Who are we being linked to?
I have seen some reports suggesting that we are going to sign Gianluigi Buffon from Juventus. Buffon has been at Juventus since 2001 and he is aged 31. I don’t think that he is a no go especially because of his age.
The other main name that has been put in the frame is a younger goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Neuer has played for FC Schalke for his entire professional playing career. He is only 23-years-old and he is in the right age range for Manchester United.
Will we buy a goalkeeper this summer?
Personally, I don’t think so. Sir Alex and Gill have both said that we won’t sign any more players. I know that Fergie said that earlier on in the summer and then we went on and signed Gabriel Obertan but I think that was different. If they are going to change their minds I don’t think it will be a goalkeeper that we will be signing, it is more likely to be a forward player.
I also believe that Sir Alex will show his faith in Foster, he did have a bad game but all players have bad games and it was a pre-season game. Foster hasn’t played many games and his match sharpness might not be there yet.
Kuszczak, in my opinion, gets a bit of a hard time. He isn’t the best goalkeeper in the world but we are not Real Madrid or Manchester City. We aren’t going to go out and buy the best of everything. Kuszczak is a good goalkeeper and if we need him then he will perform. I know that some Manchester United fans get nervous when he is in goal but I think that is a tad harsh.
Van Der Sar is going to be injured for two months and I believe that Foster and Kuszczak are perfectly capable of standing in for him. If not, we do have some youngsters (Ron-Robert Zieler and Ben Amos) who could be given a chance.
If we are going to buy a keeper it won’t be this summer, it will be next when Van Der Sar is expected to retire. Even then I think Fergie will keep Foster and Kuszczak.
