Manchester United have been heavily linked with signing Japanese playmaker Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund, but the Old Trafford back are holding back for the moment.
Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc has confirmed that 13-goal midfielder Kagawa has rejected a new contract and wants to play in England.
He has 12 months left to run and Dortmund have little option than to sell him this summer.
The Telegraph report that Manchester United are looking at adding him to their squad for next season, willing to offer £7 million.
But here is a ridiculous sounding line in the newspaper’s report:
“United are understood to be wary of signing players from the Bundesliga due to concerns over the strength of the league and ability of signings to acclimatise to the greater demands of English football.”
You what?
Perhaps this is why United didn’t go for Real Madrid maestro Mesut Ozil, then of Werder Bremen, in 2010, despite his storming World Cup?
If United believe players can’t transition from the Bundesliga to the Premier League, we’ve got two words for them; Papiss Cisse.
The 13-goal Newcastle hitman signed from Freiburg in January and has been sensational. Demba Ba was snapped up from the Bundesliga by West Ham for a bargain price too, while Chelsea have last week signed Marko Marin from Werder Bremen.
Not to mention Chelsea’s opponents in the Champions League are Bundesliga side Bayern Munich.
And if United need any more evidence of Dortmund and Kagawa’s quality, Dortmund are set to finish above Bayern Munich as champions, currently eight points ahead.
We could go on and on pulling examples through the years to illustrate just why such a stance from Manchester United is so ridiculous, but we’d be here all day.
In fact the Bundesliga’s infastructure, with packed stadiums, clubs in no debt, and a brand new deal with Sky Deutschland set to bring in millions of pounds worth of revenue to the clubs, is predicted to see the league overtake both the Premier League and La Liga long-term as Europe’s most successful league.
After Cisse’s success with Newcastle, we are likely to see more and more clubs looking to Germany, so if United continue to needlessly hesitate over Kagawa, they may just lose out on him altogether.
Are United right to raise concerns of the Bundesliga’s strength or are they mad?
image: © Schwenke
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