Ever Banega

An Irish Red

I think the same.

Cleverly will take Gibsons squad place, so the only midfield player we need to replace is Scholes. Hargreaves leaving doesn't really count that much since he hasn't factored into our midfield in a long time.

Devil may care

I think it's more complicated than that, in truth only three of them are true CM's, Cleverley has not played a single senior game in a two man midfield and has spent the last two seasons playing on the wing. Giggs is going to be 38 in a few months so that has to factor in, and then we need to see how Fletcher is when he comes back as he had a poor season followed by a deabilitating illness.

Ekeke

Everyone has huge buyout clauses in la liga. We do pay buyout clauses quite often, but never these Spanish ones.

If the player wants to leave the club will generally cash in to avoid having an unhappy player in the squad and I cant see a club willing to offer more than around £21 million for Martinez at this point.

Devil may care

Has there been any talk of him wanting to move?

Ekeke

In the past, not this summer. He and his agent have both said he's happy at Valencia. But when a big club comes in sometimes players change their tune as we're seeing with Modric and Chelsea

Edit -

Oh Javi Martinez? No. I dont remember reading or hearing of him wanting to move. Bilbao players tend to be quite loyal and move on when its in the interests of the club. They are a selling club but with their basque only policy they need to make sure they can fill the holes with a basque player

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber

Agreed

Devil may care

Do you think Valencia will lose him or Mata first? I imagine they don't want to lose both in one go like they did with Villa and Silva.

The Basque only policy is pretty bold, I don't imagine Herrera being bought effects Martinez as they are more partners than rivals for the same role, so he's probably not an option right now.

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber

I think it would be a mistake. We need to get in cover for Fletcher. It is something we need ( that is why we persisted with Hargreaves so long, and what happened in the UEFA champions league final) yet don't have. Replacing Scholes and adding Cleverly to replace a Gibson wont help give us that.

amolbhatia100

If this guy is as good as some say he is, how come we aren't in for him? Barca and Real have more than sorted midfielders with the latter also signing Sahin. Chelsea seem to be heavily interested in Modric and they'll most likely get him and their midfield is already strong. Central midfield is Arsenal's stronger area. We're the only big club who view it as a weakness of theirs. So if this guy is as good as hyped up to be, a bit surprised that we haven't made any movement in that direction given I don't see where the competition would come from.

Chirag

But since we are in the Banega thread.. I was hoping that the 1 midfield player mentioned would be Banega himself.. He would not only replace Scholes (of late) but he will replace what Hargo gave us as well..

Ekeke

What hype?

This is the first most members of the caf are hearing of him. And the very fact that top clubs arent being linked to him as you say is more proof that there is no hype. None.

If by hype you mean my very high opinion of him, well I've been watching him week after week for multiple seasons. How do we know our scouts have been doing the same?

The lack of hype is in my mind the biggest reason why we might not be looking at him.

In his best season so far, 09/10, Valencia were not in the champions league. They were in the europa and people are less interested in whats going on in that.

Maradona left him out of Argentina's world cup squad which was madness. They look a far better team since the new manager came in and made him a starter.

So he's not really had that big tournament where he shows his ability on a big stage. Mainly in la liga and lets be honest only a handful of caf posters and people in Britain are watching Valencia often

Ekeke

I think Emery would prefer to keep Mata.

Right now the captain is Navarro is captain with Joaquin taking the armband when he is not starting. Valencia have signed Rami who will go straight into the defence and they continue to be linked to CBs. With Navarro getting to the latter part of his career and not being the best defender anyway, he might be replaced in the lineup.

In Spain the longer you're at a club (as long as you're starting) the higher you are in the pecking order for being club captain. After Navarro and Joaquin comes Mata. So if he stays you expect him to be wearing the armband in the next couple of seasons as the team moves on after Navarro and then Joaquin

Banega and Emery have fallen out at times and sometimes Emery rotates the midfield so Banega doesnt start every game right now unlike Mata. As far as I'm concerned thats just Unai Emery, he's a bit weird

Anyway Argentina have a friendly tomorrow and according to Goal.com Argentina are done experimenting with players who dont usually play for the national team and they expect Banega to start. Might be a good idea to watch the match and see what you all think of him

7even

There has been a lot of talk of Sneijder, Hamsik, Sanchez and Javier Pastore. All of them are attacking mids and they more or less operate in the same area as Rooney (when he plays with Chica).

I thought that Modric was our primary target but when he release his statement that he prefer to go to Chelsea it's strange that so few recognize that Banega is maybe a better option.

I have noticed that Ekeke have highlighted him several times. And I agree that he's a special talent. I hope our scouts think the same.

DFreshKing

This was my point with Young and Sanchez, they both have very good players in front of them in Nani and Rooney. Maybe you could argue the left is open but then one of Valencia or nani lose out. Rooney is a cert to stay as the split striker from now.

Benega is prime for the one wide open position in our team. The Xavi/Lonso position. I can't think of a better candidate and that includes Modric.

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber

Cool.

Chirag

7even

Pastore and Banega. Come on Gill. Surprise us.

Siorac

The sheer power of muppetry is keeping this thread alive despite the total lack of any evidence of our intention to sign him.

Muppet power could change the world: forget oil and solar energy, this is the ultimate one!

(For the record, I'd be overjoyed to see Banega here. It just looks very unlikely).

Ekeke

Being a good player is whats keeping this thread alive. The transfer forum has threads about all player transfers not just to United.

Most likely if Banega moves it'll be to Inter

Cheltenham Red

I am convinced this lad is the real deal,would be my no.1 choice for what we need.May not be the most hyped or glamorous but would fit us like a glove.Fergie always gives us a suprise and I hope Banega is the one this year,as you said would allow Anderson to realise his potential and the 2 of them would be a fantastic pairing in a two man midfield.

DFreshKing

Says Mrs Sneijder....

At least this lad would fill an actual void in the team.

Cold_Boy

Why is thread so active.

We haven't even been linked to him.

DFreshKing

because a few people rate him and think he would fit into the team. If we have to be linked to a player to talk about him it would not be half as fun.

Ekeke

So?

We're in the football discussion forum. Not the Manchester United forum.

Here we talk about football. This player is a footballer.

Twigginater

This is actually the transfer forum. Where you often talk about transfers.

Siorac

I'm not that keen on Sneijder though I'd be pleased if we got him. I only argued against the ridiculous notions that 1) we always have to play a two-man midfield, 2) he's definitely not suited to that.

As for Banega, yeah, he'll go to Inter for a bargain price, excel there and two summers later we'll be linked with a 30 million move for him. Familiar?

Ekeke

Thats the subforum inside the football discussion forum

GledTheRed

Can't see Banega going on the cheap tbh.

RedThaiDevils#7

Should be around Silva's value imo.

Escobar

Just buy him FFS (double bid for him and Mata)

Red Hand Devil

I like the sound of this dude...

Ekeke

Looks like the Argentina Vs. Albania friendly will be starting at about 10pm

The team has been named and as suspected its Argentina's main team with Banega starting

Sergio Romero; Javier Zanetti, Nicolas Burdisso, Gabriel Milito, Marcos Rojo; Javier Mascherano, Lucas Biglia, Ever Banega; Ezequiel Lavezzi, Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria.

Tevez on the bench and Cambiasso missing through injury are the only changes to full strength

Ekeke

Argentina's friendly kicking off now, Banega starting

Skywarden

Oh goodie. going to watch this one.

Mainoldo

Haven't the paper clocked on to redcafe and linked us to him yet!!! They need to start doing their job!

Skywarden

"Locksmith" should be his new nickname. Tidy display thus far.

Wes

if he's wearing 21 he's just assisted a goal

bit lumpy - good plyer by the looks of things though

Ekeke

He's 19 tonight. He played the ball to Lavezzi (21) who knocked it into Messi

Played a 1-2 to put Messi in behind and created a few more chances. Had 1 shot he dragged wide. And he's playing further forward than he usually does for Valencia due to Mascherano being in the team

Argentina's players tend to look similar from a distance, so basically :

He's playing in midfield with Macherano and Biglia. We know what Mascherano is like. Biglia I've only seen about twice before, he looks a decent player but definitely not the creative type

So if you're struggling to pick out the number 19, he's the one linking up nicely and playing all the smart passes into the front and wide players. The midfielders he's playing next to dont really have that in their nature. He also has the white boots which helps differenciate

Wes

Thanks, looks ok

Ringo 07

Apparently he was class for Argetina tonight. He would definitely make an impact here but dunno if Fergie fancies him at all!