Ginger Prince turns in his crown

At 36 years old it was no surprise that Paul Scholes would call an end to his career.  It was a shame that his final match was against Barcelona and he did not get the send off from the home crowd which he deserved but in typical Scholes fashion he managed to avoid being a distraction of spending to much time in the spotlight.  His retirement came about in the same fashion as he went about playing the game.  He put his head down and gave his all to the club for nearly 2 decades without ever forcing himself into the spotlight or seeking to be at the centre of attention.  He left the team in much the same way he played for them showing that his loyalty was beyond question and that he was never happy being less then the best.

Paul Scholes was always a player who let his performances do the talking.  He was not one to seek out the spotlight but his brilliant play often resulted in him being thrust into the spotlight.  He will be remembered by United fans as one of the best players to ever patrol the midfield at Old Trafford as well as a core member of the group fondly remembered as Fergie's Fledglings.  That legendary group that has brought United so much success in the past 2 decades is now down to one as only Ryan Giggs remains.  Nicky Butt, David Beckham, and Phil Neville have all been sold while Gary Neville decided to retire back in February when he was falling off the pace in matches.  So now with Scholes moving on to a coaching role at the club it is only Giggs that remains from the group that brought United the famous treble in 1999.

Paul Scholes will be remembered for his ability to score some of the finest goals as he was able to strike the ball from range with the very best of them.  One goal that will always stick with me is his effort at Camp Nou against Barcelona back in 2008 which led to a 1-0 United win and allowed him to finally get the chance to play in the Champions League finals.  Scholes had missed out on the 1999 final so it only seemed fitting that in 2008 he would play a key role in repeating that European success.  Scholes will also be remembered for the way that he adapted his game to meet the teams needs.  When he first came to United he was an attacking player who made a name for himself scoring goals but as United had a surplus of strikers he made the shift to being an attacking midfielder where he established himself as one of the greatest midfielders of a generation.  Later in his career he would move to more of a deep lying playmaker known for being able to spread passes around the entire pitch and bring a stabilizing presence to United.

As far as where Scholes ranks in the bigger picture of things it is really hard to say.  To me he is one of the best to ever play for United and along with Giggs will be long remembered as the corner stones of one of the best midfields ever assembled.  He won the Premier League a very impressive 10 times as well as picking up 3 FA Cups, 2 Carling Cups, and the 2 Champions League titles.  The list of people who have praised Scholes seems to go on and on and includes many of the biggest names in the game.  Zidane once said that Scholes was the greatest player of his generation which is very high praise when you consider that it is coming from a man that many would argue is one of the best midfielders to play the game.  Thierry Henry also said that Paul Scholes was the best player in the premiership at a time when the league was going through one of its best phases.  For me I would say that Scholes is one of the 5 best players that I have ever had the privilege of watching along with the likes of Ronaldo, Giggs, Zidane, and now Messi.  I am not sure where he would rank on that list but it is obvious to me that Scholes is one of the best around and he will be sorely missed at United.

Not to many central midfielders can boast a scoring record like Paul Scholes'.  He scored 150 goals for United and even if his scoring has been down the past 5 years or so his void will still be very hard to fill. Sir Alex Ferguson has promised that the team will be spending this summer looking to strengthen a side that won the Premiership and went the Champions League final.  The club already seems set to sign David De Gea to replace the also retiring Edwin Van Der Sar but now they will certainly have to move to sign at least one midfielder.  No offence to Anderson, Carrick, or Fletcher but they do not possess the skill set that Scholes has and can not be the driving force in the midfield that he was.  The leading candidates to come and try to help fill the void at Luka Modric of Tottenham, Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan, and Ashley Young from Aston Villa.  Young is much more a wide player, Sneijder more of a goal scorer but Modric would be the kind of play marker who would help to make the attack go.

To me the club needs to make a pair of signings in the midfielder.  First move to bring in either Sneijder or Modric as I think that getting both of them would be a bit unrealistic and a real stretch on the budget.  I would like to see them get Sneijder to help with the goal scoring which was already low this Premier League season and will probably be ever lower next season if Berbatov leaves the club, which is looking likely.  They the club so look to sign Young if the price is right to allow Giggs to spend more time in the central midfield and be a creative force there rather then being worn out running down the wings.  Other then that if Young can't be signed I would like to see the club go after a cheaper, domestic option to provide a measure of depth in the position.  Signing someone like Jack Rodwell or Jordan Henderson would give the club one more option and someone with a fair bit of upside still assuming they are able to thrive in the Old Trafford environment.





















Regardless of who is brought in to try and fill the void left by Scholes, which is not possible, he will be sorely missed.  His time at United was brilliant and he was a loyal servant to the club the entire time which is something that seems to be lost these days.  It is also noteworthy that Scholes will be missed as a role model to the players out there who are not your typically athletes.  Scholes was undersized, has asthma, and other issues but he never let that stop him from making it to the very top.  Just like Gary Neville he made a made for himself through nothing more then hard work and that will just be one part of his legacy to me.

Transfer Fun Begins

It may be only May 24th but it is clear that teams are not going to be waiting until July 1st to make an impact on the transfer market.  Today a couple of major rumours were broke in regards to United making moves and at least in the case of the first one the reports seem to be very plausible and has in fact been confirmed by Sir Alex despite an official announcement not being expected until Monday.  So it seems that David De Gea will move from Athletico Madrid who he back stopped to a Europa League title in 2010 to become United's new number 1.  The other United rumour of the day is still just that, a speculative rumour, as reports are beginning the come out that United are going to sign Aston Villa winger Ashley Young.  Most people around the game think that Young is going to move this summer but United are sure to have competition to land his signature.

In the case of David De Gea the signing is not one that comes as a surprise to the fans who have paid attention to things.  The 20 year old Keeper has long been on United's radar with the club scouting him on a number of occasions in the past.  Now with Edwin Van der Sar set to play his final match for the club on Saturday it was clear that a new keeper was going to be needed.  In his press conference today SAF stated that the club liked the athleticism, composure, and youth of De Gea and see him as being capable of playing in a similar fashion to Van der Sar with the ability to cover the entire net and make the big saves.  The capture of De Gea means that the club felt he was the best option despite having also been strongly linked with signing Manuel Neuer from Shalke and Maarten Stekelenburg from Ajax.  The price for the 20 year old keeper is expected to be just a bit under 20 million pounds which is probably similar or lower then the price tag that the other two keepers would have demanded.  For fans of Athletico the move must be a painful one as they are already dealing with the news that Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan both intend to leave this summer.  That will leave the club in rough shape going forward and major change must be in store if they want to get back to the highest levels in Europe.   But this is a case of Athletico's loss being United's gain as De Gea will hopefully provide the club with solid goal keeping for many years to come.  Some United fans have already expressed doubt in the fact that such a young keeper can handle the pressure of playing at Old Trafford and being the number one for such a big club but I for one feel that his time at Athletico exposed him to a fair bit of pressure and he started the final of a European cup with them so his composure is not in question for me.  I fully expect him to find success where many senior keepers have failed and put his name in a line that contains Van der Sar and the Great Dane Peter Schmeichel.  For me this move is a great start to what should be a busy offseason that has not even begun yet.

The second report of the day really is far from being substantiated so far.  We all know that Ashley Young is at least a possibility to move this summer with both Chelsea, Liverpool and United being linked with the talented english winger.  If Young were to move to United he would join a group of wingers that already includes Nani, Park Ji-Sung, and Antonio Valencia.  He would provide an very good attacking option for the club similar to Nani and would allow Giggs to spend even more time in the central midfield which seems to suit him better as he has aged.  The day began with reports that Darren Bent would spend the international time with England trying to convince his team mate at Villa to stay for at least one year but as the day progressed the rumours of United signing him began to grow once more.  So if there is a race for Ashley Young then it appears that United have become the front runners at least for the moment.  It is clear that Liverpool are interested in Young as well but recently City have been rumoured to be in the running so until this deal is confirmed by the club I will hold off on getting excited about the potential of seeing him at Old Trafford.  Young is likely to cost in the area of 15 million pounds which in this day and age is not a crazy price for an England international and I think would be money well spent.

Along with the two rumours that took most of the headlines for today United are still regularly being linked with both Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan as well as Jose Enrique from Newcastle.  Neither seems to be any where near a done deal but with with Sir Alex having promised to spend money these two potential signings may just be the start of a very busy summer.

United were not the only active team in the market today as Juventus confirmed that they had finalized a deal to sign Andrea Pirlo to a 3 year deal.  Pirlo had recently ended his 10 year stay at AC Milan which cleared the way for him to move to another club which was quickly speculated to be Juve.  This signing should provide a solid boost in the centre of the park for a team that has struggled of late and were disappointed to finish this season outside of European qualifying positions.  Being 32 years of age many are questioning the choice to sign Pirlo to a 3 year deal but for Juventus I am sure that they were willing to do what ever it takes to ensure that he would be playing for them for the good years that he has remaining.  Today Milan also agreed to a deal that would see them buy out the remained for the rights to Kevin-Prince Boateng from Genoa.  Boateng was bought by Genoa from Portsmouth this past summer when the club was forced to sell most of its players but he ended up at the San Siro instead as the clubs worked out an agreement which saw AC Milan become part owners.  Milan will now buy out the second half of his contract which will ensure that at least his immediate future is going to be with AC Milan.


















It is clear that despite the transfer window being a long ways away from opening the end of league seasons has ensured that the activity has already kicked off.  The rumours will now begin to swirl in earnest and it is likely that the De Gea transfer will not be the only big money deal to be confirmed in the coming weeks leading up to July 1st.