Surely Mesut Ozil is value for money Fergie?

Mesut Ozil

For the regular readers of the blog you will be well aware that I am a realist, rather than a fantasist who loses himself in endless transfer possibilities. When I was younger, maybe I thought “Could we sign a Roberto Baggio or a Marco Van Basten?” – which at the time was ludicrous, considering the attraction of Italy – however, with Manchester City signing David Silva and David Villa moving to Barcelona before the World Cup, surely there is potential to add to this already impressive squad so that United can challenge both domestically and on a European front?


Mesut Ozil was extremely impressive as a trequartista for Germany this summer, operating intelligently behind Miroslav Klose and playing a major part in England’s elimination. I, along with a number of other Reds, think that Ozil’s talent and intelligence would be a much needed addition to a squad who are still relying on the aging legs of Giggs and Scholes. So my question is – if Ozil moves to Chelsea or Real Madrid for the reported £12million that some sources are quoting, can Fergie still state that there is no value for money?

I am in no position to question the managerial capabilities of Sir Alex Ferguson. He is shrewd enough in the transfer market to know the quality of a player and has previously purchased a number of quality footballers that were significantly undervalued. The fact is that Manchester United do not have money to spend on players like Ozil, Wesley Sneijder or Mario Balotelli. Again, we were once linked to Zidane at Bordeaux, Batistuta at Fiorentina and Luis Figo then at Sporting Lisbon – with all three players moving elsewhere. I am a realist. However, for £12million would you not consider that value for money? Even if it was £20million – for a player that could make that difference in a tight European match against a deep lying defense – wouldn’t that be worth it?

Fergie was quoted as saying:

“I cannot speak about other clubs. We are comfortable with the squad we have got. We bought players at the right time of the season and we are happy with what we have.”

Although United have purchased Chris Smalling for £10million from Fulham and young Mexican striker Javier Hernandez, a third addition in the form of a creative outlet would be welcomed. Can United still challenge both domestically and on a European front? Of course – we have a quality squad, the best manager and a desire to win. The problem is when have United ever looked for ‘sell on’ value before? The philosophy of ‘how can we make as much money out of this asset’? Hernandez looks a great prospect but the cynical side of me thinks that if he is a success – United will no doubt sell him on for a hefty profit. If we approach transfers this way, we will never sign players of Ozil’s quality. Ok, we don’t know the ins and outs of the transfer dealings – even if some of us believe we are mini agents! However, say Ozil did move to another club for a fee between £12million and £20million – would it concern you? Do you think we need him? Would the clubs lack of ambition in the transfer market anger you? Or should I just sit back, forget reality and look to the future?

26 Comments on Surely Mesut Ozil is value for money Fergie?

  1. I think at 25 million ozil is value for money,yes man utd need a player like Ozil Quality,last season we lack creative skill in midfield that is some thing Ozil bring to the team,so Fergie go after him now before it’s too late.

  2. we have to buy him!!we are short of this class in midfield.old legs go over night and this could happen to giggsy and scholes and then we are really short of true class.fergie,tell the yanks to stump up or sell out!!

  3. Fergie is right when he says there is no value for money in the transfer market at the moment,But i still think that we can afford one more quality player,and Ozil is a quality player.

  4. i agree wholesomely, and seeing ozil leave for as little as quoted will anger me in some way if he doesn’t move to united, which realistically, he won’t. he is of true exceptional quality and i can’t remember the last time i enjoyed watching someone play as much as him. there is of course value in the market and i find it saddening that fergie has reiterated united having a budget to compete with. it’s cowardly, considering that benitez put up his corner against a certain another american organization ruining the club anyway.

  5. I don’t think Ozil is a necessity, but I certainly think he would be a valuable asset to the team. The only position that I think is a concern with now is our attacking midfielder. I think there is a lot of pressure on Anderson to perform this season. We really need a spark of creativity in our midfield. I think Anderson is capable of that and I’m certainly backing up, but if he doesn’t live up to expectations this season we could be in trouble. Scholes can play there, but the older it gets the deeper he plays it seems. Ozil would take the pressure off Anderson. Or, god forbid, should Anderson not live up to our expectations Ozil would be a fantastic asset.

  6. Good article. It’s a damn shame what’s happening at our club. I’m rapidly losing respect for Fergie with these nauseating soundbites about the lack of “value” in the transfer market and how he’s happy with our squad as it is.

    It doesn’t take a managerial genius to see that £12m is incredible value for a talent like Özil and he’s just the kind of creative player the team is crying out for. It’s a complete no-brainer. So why am I so certain that Özil will not be coming to United?

  7. That’s the part where i feel frustrated. Ever since the Glazer came, our club is going backwards. I know we been winning for 3 season but now the Glazer starts to affect us.

    We been link to many superstar before and even link to Ronaldinho. Once, i believe we will buy any good player who can make our team improve and challenge for glory. But now, we been like a feeder club selling players for ‘sell on’ value.

    What’s the point of this? If i was the manager i could buy them and keep them for life if they were good enough. We starts to sell our best player Ronaldo. Now Vidic, Rooney, Evra been link to other clubs. In the past this will never happen. Does our club appeal drop that no players want to stay long?

    I been hearing for 2 season that we had the money to spend. Now is the time to spend. J. Cole was free and no attempt to buy him at all. If this summer we never improve the squad, imagine we drop to 3rd or 4th or even 5th place(a bit exaggerate), by then Giggs, Scholes, Neville, VDS all retired and we had no replacement and Fergie getting old. All of a sudden, we lost all support.

    This summer is the right time to find replacement for the legends. I dont believe there is no value in the market.

  8. I watch the Bundesliga and Bundesliga highlights regularly and as brilliant as Özil can be, he also has the tendency to become anonymous during a match. It’s true, that players like him can change a game in an instant with a moment of genius, but Mesut can be quite underwhelming at times. Also, his natural fitness means, he isn’t the player with most stamina on the pitch.

    He does have talent and with the right guidance could improve his consistency. Some time with Mike Clegg and Tony Studwick would help him with his stamina too.

    There’s another point though that Sir Alex usually prefers midfield players like Sneijder or van der Vaart and doesn’t usually sign typical playmakers likes of Özil or Modric.

    So yes, Özil represents value, as does Khedira whom you haven’t mentioned. He would fit in better at United than Özil. But Fergie doesn’t have a track record of signing trequaristas. We’ll probably see more of Berbatov playing behind Rooney this season.

  9. Forgot to add that, of course, I would be chuffed with United were to sign Özil, but wanted to make the point that he isn’t the finished article quite yet. Even during the World Cup he wasn’t brilliant in every game, so people shouldn’t expect him too much yet. He has great potential though.

  10. Come every summer and there is always a ton of drama from United fans claiming that the club desperately need to sign players and that if we don’t we’ll surely end up 3rd, 4th or worse. This summer is no different.

    United have a very talented squad. We barely missed out on the title last season, a title which would have been a record 4th consecutive. Arguably it would have been in the bag had we not suffered a freak spate of defensive injuries which had the club fielding midfielders in the back four, for successive games. Barring a few dodgy ref calls and we probably would have been in the CL final for the third time running too.

    The history of this club is that we don’t buy star names. We create them. Even Rooney and Ronaldo were brought to the club as 17 and 18 year olds. We like players to really become a part of the club, mature with the MUFC philosophy. It is this approach that has made the club so widly successful. I see no change in our approach.

    People talk abotu Joe Cole. But what was he the answer to exactly? He hasn’t turned it on since 2005/06. He missed most of 06/07 to injury, was in and out of the team in 07/08, missed most of 08/09 through injury again and then couldn’t break into the team last season. On the left for Chelsea he has always been second choice behind first Duff, then Robben and then Malouda. If he is so good why did no top six club make a serious bid for him? Because simply put…he just isn’t that good. We are far better off giving that playing time to young players. On the left we have Nani and as an understudy to him we have Giggs and Obertan. And before anyone says we should play Cole through the middle, just know he hasn’t played through the middle regularly since he was at West Ham!

    An Ozil, Balotelli, Jovetic or Gourcuff would always be welcome at the club but we can never know what is goin on behind the scenes. It’s nt championshsip manager where you can just sign people up willy nilly. Several other clubs are probably in for him and any of them may have a preference to play in Madrid or London over manchester. Other clubs may be willing to offer ridiculous wages that we are not…..

    Lets be positive and realize that in Anderson and Cleverly we have two attacking midfielders with bags of talent. Let’s give them games!

  11. He’s only value for money if you can afford him. Still, as the old saying goes, ‘plenty more Bosmans in the sea’

  12. I have to disagree with you simon. You say we create superstars but Rooney and Ronaldo is not home breed. They are bought and train at United. If we are to count on home grown, i dont think many could be able to reach Rooney height. Maybe pogba, Macheda can but others im not sure.

    Do you think this season will be like last season? If we lost 6 matches, can we be champions? It’s no point wanting other club to drop points. What matter most is how we perform. So we strike for excellent and aim for most points. Injuries hurts us but if we can score more goals then it wont really matter.

  13. This season could make or break the club for the next few years.

    If we rely on youth, like it’s looking like we will, we could have a disaster of a season. Scholes could age further and Anderson could either not perform or get injured and all of a sudden, we’re relying on Rooney and the wingers do set up or score every goal for us.

    On the other hand, Scholes could just keep ticking along and Anderson could turn into the player we always hoped he would. Some of the other kids could come on as well (Obertan looks the most likely) and the risk may prove to have paid off.

    The thing that concerns me, by not buying a player like Ozil, it is taking a massive risk. Hargreaves seems to be done, the jury is still out on Anderson, Carrick regressed last season, Gibbo is not reliable yet and Scholes is old. Aside from Fletcher, we have no reliable central midfielder (again, things go our way and we may have 3 or 4). A player like Ozil would make the coming season a much less riskier endeavour and potentially set us up for years to come.

    His presence could also stunt the development of Anderson, Cleverly and Gibson.

    It’s a catch 22 but I’d be erring on the side of caution and putting the cash on the table for Ozil.

    Oh and fuck I’d just love to see him feeding through balls to our plethora of quick poacher like strikers like Hernandez, Diouf, Rooney, Owen and Welbeck. Exciting prospect

  14. @ Ben.

    Rooney and Ronaldo were brought in as very talented but raw 16 and 18 year olds. They were hardly the players they are today.

    United (Fergie) turned them into 2 of the top 10 players in the world. In Ronaldo’s case, one of the best players to ever play in the EPL (posibly La Liga too by the time he retires)

  15. To me we need to bay some plays to add to the club to help the club when the old well go out so sir i beg you in the name of God to put lack two or three player’s in the team to get bland to the team b4 the old live the club one united

  16. We are short in the area of a CREATIVE attacking midfielder, where we only have an aging, occasionally brilliant Scholes. Gibson is a good squad player to have, but certainly not creative. Anderson may have the talent, but has been deployed mainly as a holding midfield player and will need to be played consistently in this position to prove himself as a creative attacking midfielder. Given this scenario, Ozil would be the perfect option, who could be inducted into the team gradually while benefitting from Scholes’s last year with the team,and moving seamlessly in when Scholes retires. Desperately hope SAF gets him in.

  17. I do think the “there’s no value” thing is a bit of a deflection, but I wouldn’t pay for Ozil just now, not with World Cup Inflation.

  18. This is the time to buy Ozil If not he will go to Madrid Chelsea City etc and being the player he is will be fantastic. If he is then sold on then it will take mega millions to buy him and he will be even more out of our price range. Take Ronaldo – bought for about £13 M and sold for £80 M. We couldn’t afford to buy him for that. £12M for Ozil now will not only boost our midfield with a fantastic talent but save us loads in the future.

  19. Is there really any chance of Ozil leaving for just £12m? Only if Werder Bremen have decided they’re not all that keen on money or Ozil has some contractual bargaining chip that’s encouraging them to get what money they can while they can.

  20. Ferguson is being an idiot, he knwz ere z no money bt backs the Glazerz. We are loosing our dept as a squad. We finished 2nd and ddnt win the champions league becoz of fergie. F he had signd robben n wesley frm real madrid we wld b champions. Wn we look at a player lyk valencia at 20 million, he z nt worth t even thou he had a gud season. He plays on 1 flank n in terms of skill he z wack, he cant chip e ball ova a keeper. Bt w robben u gt t all. I dnt even wna compare tevez 2 berbatov, We nd more depth, we need muller, ozil, and schienstiger. Dos santos would settle wel in united.

  21. ozil has a buy out clause in his current contract which will allow him to leave for as little as 16 million euros.

    i disagree somewhat with simon also. i mean, i do have faith in the training team that work behind the scenes to help youngsters blossom- united do tend to still buy big names. the likes of a £24-26 million veron and most recent £30 million berbatov spring to mind, whille rooney had allready showed glimpses of world class quality at everton; it took united another£30 million to secure him because of it. both berbatov and carrick showed the mettle at spurs. the club cashed in on huge profit as carrick was bought from west ham for 2 million. berba was around the £14 million mark, and united had been mooted for a move of him while at bayer leverkusen. again, it took £30m to secure the service ferdinand because he was already an exceptional player. it took some sublime performances for england to have hargreaves linked with move to united as well.

    i do feel united make superstars- i’ve idolized giggs since he was around 19 or 20, as well as the other crop of players in his generation. but they buy a fair share too. purchasing ronaldo for as little as united did was a stroke of masterclass and i can see ozil turning out the same way, without the glamour side to life, as well. he is better at 21 than what rooney was.

    also, injuries did hamper the season last year and we may well have been one point or two, considering a giant goal difference, off from chelsea but teams are consistently strengthening squads, especially the likes of united’s neighbours and we have yet to see chelsea themselves flex real finance muscle. united have spent next to bothing considering the sales of foster and tosic. sometimes it’s not about tomorrows’ stars.

  22. we have to buy ozil. if we did every of man united would be so happy. and would get fergie back for the rest of the season. so fergie please buy ozil

  23. In my opinion,man utd will face tough competition in signing this Ozil. Unless the Bremen club is willing to consider as lowly as 12-17million cash deal,as i think united will not push as hard as to 30mil when they signed for Berba,which i believe isn’t really being fruitful and lived up to their expectation, thus they are aware of that, and they will not this time try to make any massive spending deal as they know they already got a quite a decent squad,i must say. Having Ozil will a bonus for the squad’s talent.

  24. I know someone already mentioned this, but if Ozil is sold this summer for less than 20m, I’m going to be really upset that we didn’t make a move for him. He’s certainly value at that price. We may not NEED him, but he’d be a fantastic asset.

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