Essien could be answer
Tom Tyrrell

WILL it be the one that got away, the one who wants to come, or will Sir Alex have another ace up his sleeve if he shuffles the pack in the summer?

With the Manchester United boss preparing to bring in new blood during the close season, one former Reds´ favourite reckons Sir Alex could have set his sights on a player who has already slipped through the Old Trafford net.

Frank Stapleton has singled out Olympique Lyon midfielder Michael Essien as the man who might provide the answer to United´s midfield problems, and was surprised to learn the Ghanaian international could follow a similar route to Manchester as the one he took almost 24 years ago.

" I had trials with United when I was a schoolboy, but they did not make me a positive offer so eventually I signed for Arsenal. It was nine years later that I was sold to the club I had supported when I was a boy and I was amazed to find out Essien´s story is the same as mine. He was with United when he was 16 years old and I cannot believe they didn´t sign him because I have to say when I saw him playing against them for Lyon I was very impressed.

" I suppose he could have come on a lot, but he is only 22 years old, and looks a great prospect. They are going to find it difficult to get him now because so many other clubs seem to fancy him. Real Madrid and Arsenal have both shown an interest.

Perfect

" He looks the perfect package, but you can never tell. A lot would depend on whether he can do it on a stage like Old Trafford."

With Essien their inspiration, dark horses Lyon have powered their way into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, smashing Bundesliga winners Werder Bremen 10-2 on aggregate this week.

" Essien is not a prolific scorer although he got two on Tuesday. He is an aggressive ball winner in midfield and that is something United need. I thought he was outstanding at Old Trafford in November," says Stapleton, who himself had a spell in French football with Le Havre.

It was after the group phase game against Lyon that Sir Alex revealed how Essien came close to joining the Reds: " We had him here as a boy, but there were problems over getting him a work permit and he moved on."

" They managed to get round that in France," said Stapleton who sees Essien as an ideal successor to fellow countryman Roy Keane.

" Perhaps United were unsure about him."

That situation certainly seems to have changed with Essien one of two world class midfielders linked to United this week. The other is Italian star Gennaro Gattuso who helped knock the Reds out on Tuesday.

" My dream is to play for Manchester United in England. I know it is a bit soon to talk about it, but I have always been fascinated by them."

Martin Signs Pro

Young Reds midfielder Lee Martin has signed professional forms with the club. Martin arrived from Wimbledon in December 2003 and has impressed in United´s Reserves this term. Martin signed pro forms on Wednesday 9 February, his 18th birthday.

ivguenyp2 Posté le 13 mars 2005 à 10:42:32
en toiut cas esperons que gerrard ne signe pas a chelsea sinon ils sont quasi imbattable . . .

>>> je vois pas Gerrard partir de Liv et s´il devait partir je pense qu´il eviterait l´angleterre.

Pour Arsenal, s´ils ont 40 millions pour les transferts cet été, on devrait bien trouver de l´argent nous aussi surtout qu´on a obtenu de bon resultat financier...

Je vois mal Mu se laisser distancer par Arsnal et Chelsea cet été sur le marché mais sait-on jamais tout est possible.

Arsenal aura peut-être 40M£ mais pas forcément une qualification directe en C1...Et puis pas mal de joueurs à remplacer pour eux ( Edu, Bergkamp, Pennant notamment).

Et puis il faut voir qui voudrait y aller etc...Concentrons-nous plutôt sur MU, on voit bien avec le Real que le recrutement ne fait pas tout.

sur et avec le PSG aussi ^^

Il faut essayer de trouver des joueurs sans enlever toute l´equipe !

S. FREY

M. SILVESTRE
G. NEVILLE
R. FERDINAND
G. HEINZE

M. ESSIEN
C. RONALDO
R. GIGGS
P. SCHOLES

R. VAN NISTELROOY
W. ROONEY

voila a peu pres ce que ca va donner

Man Utd avoid Arsenal in Cup draw

United are looking to repeat their 2004 FA Cup win
An FA Cup final between bitter rivals Arsenal and Manchester United remains a possibility after the pair were kept apart in the semi-final draw.
The Gunners were first out of the hat and were drawn to face Mark Hughes´ Blackburn Rovers.

Holders United will take on Newcastle, who are looking to win the FA Cup for the first time in 50 years.

The semi-finals will be played on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 April at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

With Chelsea closing in on the Premiership title, both Arsenal and Manchester United will see the FA Cup as their best chance of silverware this season.

But United must overcome the in-form Magpies, who have won seven successive matches.

United will come up against striker Alan Shearer, who they tried to sign earlier in his career and who is desperate to win a trophy with his hometown club before he retires at the end of the season.

>> c´est pas le plus mauvais tirage pour nous.

Al no-go to Ell and back
The Elland Road hate mob has forced Alan Smith to pull out of a sentimental return to old club Leeds. Smith was planning to play in a testimonial for Lucas Radebe on May 2 to honour the South African defender’s 10 years with the Yorkshire club. But England striker Smith’s comeback to his home-town team has been axed over security worries. Fans have still not forgiven Smith for joining bitter rivals Manchester United in a £7m switch last summer. Radebe’s testimonial committee has decided - following discussions with the police - that Smith should not risk being involved in the game. Committee chairman David Share said: “Smithie would love to play but it would not be prudent so soon after him moving to Manchester United. We are not able to invite certain players back - it is a fact of life.”
Michael Morgan, The Sun

Fans set up £50m plan to frustrate Glazer bid
Manchester United fans have produced an audacious plan to thwart Malcolm Glazer´s attempt to buy the club. With Glazer known to be on the verge of mounting a hostile move for the club, possibly this week, influential supporters group Shareholders United will seek to raise their stake to just over 25% - which means they could block a takeover. Supporters currently own in the region of 15% of United´s shares and would need to raise a further £50million. But senior figures at SU are confident they can coax City institutions into lending the money, which they propose to pay back by persuading their 26,500 members to take out small personal loans.
Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail

Al no-go to Ell and back
The Elland Road hate mob has forced Alan Smith to pull out of a sentimental return to old club Leeds. Smith was planning to play in a testimonial for Lucas Radebe on May 2 to honour the South African defender’s 10 years with the Yorkshire club. But England striker Smith’s comeback to his home-town team has been axed over security worries. Fans have still not forgiven Smith for joining bitter rivals Manchester United in a £7m switch last summer. Radebe’s testimonial committee has decided - following discussions with the police - that Smith should not risk being involved in the game. Committee chairman David Share said: “Smithie would love to play but it would not be prudent so soon after him moving to Manchester United. We are not able to invite certain players back - it is a fact of life.”
Michael Morgan, The Sun

Fans set up £50m plan to frustrate Glazer bid
Manchester United fans have produced an audacious plan to thwart Malcolm Glazer´s attempt to buy the club. With Glazer known to be on the verge of mounting a hostile move for the club, possibly this week, influential supporters group Shareholders United will seek to raise their stake to just over 25% - which means they could block a takeover. Supporters currently own in the region of 15% of United´s shares and would need to raise a further £50million. But senior figures at SU are confident they can coax City institutions into lending the money, which they propose to pay back by persuading their 26,500 members to take out small personal loans.
Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail

il est vrai qu´il nous manque pas grand chose non plus . .

nous sommes encore en transition et une qualif direct en C1 ne serait pas mal . ..

mais il nous faut avant tout 2 joueurs . .

un gardien et cette fois pas un illustre inconnu et un millieu defensif de trés haut niveau pour remplacer keano . .

au pre on peut s´occuper de l´ailier l´année prochaine .

gerard c´est un réve impossible .

essien va étre cher , gattuso aussi . .

mais bo de tou de faon pour remplacer keano va falloir forcement sortir de l´argent . ..

et puis l´année edrniére on a eu heinze ne surprise . .

alors peut étre quelqu´un a qui on pense pas du tout ! !

pour recuperer de l´argent si on estobligé je pense a :

saha 8 millions
silvestre 6 millions
kleb 4 millions .

ca fait deja 18 millions . .

on met brown a la place de silvestre et on fait monter de rossi et pique . .

Vu le prix qu´on a payé pour Saha, ça me parait faible comme prix de revente.

D´ailleurs je suis pas convaincu que le vendre soit une grande idée surtout que Smith joue pas mal au milieu en ce moment c´est peut-etre bien une reconversion que tente Fergie alors on a besoin de lui.

En tout cas au vu de nos resutats peut-etre que les actionnaires accepteront qu´on ait de l´argent cet été.

>> Sinon il serait peut-etre interessant d´aller voir ce que fait Kompany, ça pourrait etre une recrue interessante au vu de son age meme si c´est pas une priorité pour le moment.

Football 15:58
Mickael Essien et Juninho seront " toujours lyonnais l´an prochain", selon Jean-Michel Aulas, qui attend encore la décision de Paul Le Guen.

ce qu´il se dit dans le foot hein . .

aulas a beau dire ce qu´il veut on sait comment ca se passe . .

le nb de joueurs qui devait rester dans leurs clubs et qui sont partis . ..

pour saha c´etait juste en cas ou on doive vraiment gagner de l´argent . .

kompany pour remplacer a terùe silvestre qu´on vend au psg ! !!

en tout cas parti comme c´est on aura un arsenal MU . .

et l´une de ses 2 equipes aura complétement raté sa saison ! !

En attendant, j´aimerais bien voir Rio et Wes en defense centrale, ça peut faire une très bonne paire surtout si Wes n´est plus stoppé dans sa progression par des blessures à répétition.

Le plus simple pour nous ça restait quand meme Arsenal.

C´est malheureux a dire mais l´arrivé de chelsea dans le milieu du foot anglais a déstabilisé completement Mu et arsenal.Je vois bien chelsea encore champions plusisuer fois.

Je vois pas pourquoi vendre Saha et Silvestre...

Niveau milieux défensifs tout le monde bave sur Essien, mais on a deja parlé du prix surréaliste que demanderait Lyon. Mascherano a le " défaut" d´être argentin ce qui refroidit les supporters malgré un coût raisonnable ( 9M€).

Mais il faut pas oublier Appiah qui veut jouer en Premier League et a un profil assez proche d´Essien pour un prix dérisoire ( 5M€ soit 3.5M£). Van Bommel sera libre et à 27 ans serait une belle affaire. Ze Roberto pourrait ne pas être conservé par le Bayern, comme Edu à Arsenal, etc. Je le fes ferai pas tous, mais il y a du choix, et pas forcément cher ou vieux.

Idem chez les gardiens, 6.5M€ pour Kameni, 650.00€ environ pour Proto je crois,etc.

On vend Kleberson et ce sera assez pour le recrutement je pense...N´oublions pas qu´on va toucher 4.25M£ du transfert de Becks + 825.000£ il me semble.