Manchester United are being tipped to spend £50m in the next two weeks.
According to the Daily Mirror, Sir Alex Ferguson has instructed the Old Trafford hierachy to conclude his summer spending before he begins his annual trip to the south of France. United have a habit of being early starters: last summer, Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson were all bought before the end of May.
The trio of players reported to be at the top of Ferguson's wish-list are Sevilla's Brazilian duo, striker Luis Fabiano and defender Daniel Alves, along with Manchester City's Micah Richards.
While Alves would be installed as Gary Neville's long-term replacement at right-back, there would still be room in the United squad for the versatile Richards as the expected sale of Gerard Pique to Barcelona would leave Wes Brown as the only viable alternative to Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.
Fabiano would be a more surprising signing, although it would be a shock if United didn't sign a striker this summer. The 27-year-old has a 'bad boy' reputation but has impressed since moving to Spain in 2005, scoring 39 goals in 79 appearances for Sevilla.
Your Comments
kiwi99
"Fergie will of course be looking to strenghten his squad this summer and with pique off to barcelona, a defender would be top of his list. Richards would probaly be the best option as he covers for RB and CB. I would also like to see a back-up left back brought in as if evra were to get injured there is nobody to fill in. As for upfont, hopefully manucho will get his W.P. and i dont feel we need anyone else unless fergie goes for a striker the kind of quality of Torres(maybe huntelaar). But i feel where United could really improve is in the middle of the park. I think Xavi(25m) would be a great addition. With scholes ageing and anderson probaly not quite ready to take over, Xavi would be perfect. A great passes of the ball, and with the energy united have in mid(anderson, hargreves) i think xavi would shine! If not De Rossi(15-20m) would also be a good signing, a typical italian def mid, would really free up players around him (rooney,ronaldo,tevez,nai,anderon,ect)"
damomanutd
"as a manchester united fan i would like 2 see them sign Antonio Valencia from Wigan to play at right side of midfield with Christiano Ronaldo moving over to the left side of midfield where he played the role well in the Champions League final against Chelsea in Moscow. i would be very happy if we were to invest in Micah Richards off our fiercest rivals Manchester City. He is very tall and well built for a defender. With the upheavel going on at Manchester City he should leave now as a defender of his class should be playing in the Champions League every year. i hope we can persuade Fraizer Campbell to come back from his loan spell at Hull and show his raw pace that has terrorised Championship defenders most of the season. He would be someone different that can come off the bench and change the course of a match. i hope we can add Dimitar Berbatov to our list of strikers in the summer"
alajay_manu
"i think the boss should sign berbatov,fabianho,alves,richards. and sell saha if possible, buy juande ramos"
Muffy
"colly22 - calm down mate, have a cup of tea or something."
SweetMoscow
"A striker is our top priority. We need to take the load off Ronaldo. Although Berbatov is ideal, I can't see it happening. Spurs will price him out and for his age, anything over £16M will not be entertained by United. Neither Alvez nor Fabiano will be on United's wishlist. Both are overrated. Someone like Micah Richards would slot in nicely into United squad as he fits the profile. Anything aroud £15M will be OK. As for defensive cover, there are a couple of very good youngsters (Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson). Upfront, Danny Wellbeck, talented and promising 17 year old, will be given chance to develop. Manucho was signed in January and will be eager to make his mark during pre-season. He could be the dark horse for the new season. "
blinkboy
"who says the new signings have to work miracles in their first season? Remember, Fergie is building for the future, and possibly one without him at the helm..."
Colly22
"Zulk .. what do you mean pathetic United fans, take note you t**t, we have just done the double so from here on in any signings would just be a bonus, we need little else to improve the squad! so please explain yourself in your useage of the word pathetic?? you moron! And for the record muffy , Tevez has been exceptional in the role he has been giving to play at United, he works hard so Rooney and Ronaldo can do the playmaking going forward then tevez joins in, he was our best signing of last summer. Some people think they know it all, but really have not got a clue! "
thepromisedland
"Muffy, I think you are being a bit harsh on Tevez. Ok he did miss one sitter, but the other chance was a diving header which Cech pulled off a fine save. Giggs and Carrick missed the sitters. Also, think of the equalisers against Spurs and Blackburn away to rescue a point. He's done well for his first season in my opinion. He's had a better season than Rooney in fairness. I think we do need a real striker, a poacher, right place right time player in the mould of Ruud. Hunteelar and Berbatov would be great buys. Henry was on the cards according to reports, but he has since ruled out a move. Also, Van der Sar is looking a bit shaky lately. I'd like to see more of Foster to be honest. Kuszczak gives away a penalty every two games"
Zizou
"There's no chance Utd will sign Alves.You couldn't have a right side of Alves and Ronaldo.Going forward it'd be great but how frail would it be defensively?"
Muffy
"Personally I still don't rate Tevez that much. I would prefer to have a 'proper' striker, eg Huntelaar, Berbatov, Henry. Tevez just hasn't shown the type of predatory instincts that drew everyone's attention to him in the World Cup; look at the CL final against Chelsea where he missed 2 absolute sitters. My grandma would score 10 goals per season if you stuck her on the penalty spot in United's attack, and she's been dead 10 years. A sriker in United's front line should be scoring 30+ every season, and in Rooney and Tevez we have 2 number 10's. We desperately need a number 9. Oh, and Richards."
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