Should Sir Alex Ferguson consider using Nani as a makeweight in any deal for Porto and Colombia sensation James Rodriguez?
“As far as James Rodriguez is concerned, I hope it’s not true because it costs a fortune to get a player from Porto!”
Those were the words spoken by Sir Alex Ferguson when the idea to sign the talented Colombian was first put at his door by a journalist at the tail-end of last month. The United boss is likely in no doubt over his immense talent but the price-tag is seemingly what has put him off such a deal. However the player dubbed ‘South America’s Cristiano Ronaldo’ is an exciting prospect. The price being quoted at the moment is believed to be in the region of £36 million. For a 21-year-old who has not played in one of Europe’s big leagues it is a huge sum of money to splash out.
The forward is a brute of a player with a lashing shot and the physical attributes to deal with the Premier League, add into the equation his silky skills then what Porto have on their hands is one hell of a commodity. The sale of Hulk this summer and the hard-ball tactics relating to Joao Moutinho does show the Portuguese champions are not pushovers in the transfer market.
While Sir Alex laughed off the suggestion of a deal just three weeks ago there has been much press speculation in the past couple of days suggesting that a deal for ‘El Nuevo Pibe’ is back on.
United see him as a great replacement for Nani. The winger has been in poor form as of late and after training ground handbags with youth-teamer Davide Petrucci he was later lambasted by Ferguson for his performance against Chelsea in the 5-4 league cup defeat:
“All we needed to do was see the game out and keep possession. Nani decided to try and beat a man and lost the ball, and then it was a penalty kick….Nani is experienced, he’s an individual, he’s a player who wants to beat men and we are not going to discourage that but in that situation if he had kept the ball in the corner flag, the game’s over.”
Clearly not a player in the good books.
So why not negotiate a swap deal. Porto are well off and outside England, Spain, Italy, Germany or France are one of, if not the richest club in the bracket labelled ‘Rest of Europe’.
Therefore his wages would not be a significant issue. It wouldn’t be a straight swap as in relation to age, form and current contract situation Porto would rightly value their man at a higher price than the United misfit. However the idea of bringing one of Portugal’s regulars back to his homeland would be great publicity for Dragões. Realistically Nani is probably worth around £15 million pound so with a little bit of hard bargaining they could potentially trim their wage bill, lose a stagnating talent and bring in one of the worlds most coveted young operators for something like £20million.
What do Manchester United fans think of this potential deal? Would you swap Nani for Rodriguez in a player-cash deal?
image: © gordonflood.com
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