United go big for little Lucas Moura

Author: Doron

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The Daily Mail and the Mirror have been playing ping-pong for the last few weeks over reports that United are trying to sign 19 year old Brazilian trickster, Lucas Moura. After stories speculating bids had been made and rejected, the Mirror today are running with a story that United have now agreed a fee of £26m for him.


Updated: 13:30pm 23rd July 2012
The story suggests that with Lucas Moura in England as part of the Brazilian Olympics squad, United have been keen to agree a fee with Sao Paulo so that a medical and personal terms can be sorted whilst the player is over here. The reports were swiftly denied by sources in Brazil but nevertheless there appears to be a lot of chatter about him and United at the moment.

Somewhat bizarrely, the same paper had suggested last week that Sao Paulo felt a United bid of roughly £30m wasn’t enough and had rejected it. Therefore either that story was false or this latest one is. What both stories agree on though is that negotiations haven’t been easy with Sao Paulo valuing him as one of the most expensive players in football. Personal terms may be no easier either as Lucas is managed by both his father and an agency, meaning United may have to pay a large sum in agency fees (not that we don’t already enjoy doing that!).

The reported fee, £26m, sounds a lot for a young player but cynics might suggest that United are confident enough in his potential to ensure that he may have a hefty resale value a few years down the line.

Interest in the player though should focus on his abundance of talent. He’s very much in the mold of the modern day attacking midfielder – capable of playing wide and drifting in, or starting centrally and drifting wide. His price does sound steep but United would be getting an entertaining, a player who’s lit up many games with tricks and magical moments. Fans should be warned though – expect inconsistent performances – at 19, he’s unsurprisingly not giving 8/10 every week and is often infuriating as he tries too much. However with a goal or assist nearly every other game and now a regular in the full Brazilian team, there’s no doubting he has the potential to be special.

From United’s point of view the question is do the club really need him? Like many fans, I wouldn’t say no to a player of Lucas’ ability but I’d much rather the money was going on central midfield, rather than another attacker. However, with the club seemingly moving towards a 4-2-3-1, United certainly need more attacking midfielder than in the past. Having Young, Valencia, Nani, Kagawa and Lucas Moura would allow Fergie to choose three from an impressive five with of course the option of using Welbeck, Rooney and Cleverley in these kind of roles too.

In terms of numbers, he could replace Park – Ji was no longer really needed and doesn’t necessarily suit the change in system, therefore another attacking midfielder who does fit seems sensible. Finally, this would of course be some statement to other clubs. Lucas has been watched by all the top sides and is hot property right now.

Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken to the official club website of his desire to sign the player, but denied a deal had been agreed:

“It’s not correct We haven’t reached an agreement for the player. We’ve shown an interest but until such time as we get a deal agreed we can’t say he’s our player.”

Have you seen Lucas Moura play before and do you think he’d be good for United? Would his signing potentially mean one player might be sold on top of Park? (Nani to leave has been suggested by some fans).

11 Comments on United go big for little Lucas Moura

  1. Agree with you. I’m not really sure we need him at United but I wouldn’t say no.
    Although, considering he is young he can easily be made into a central midfielder under Scholes’ influence. He definitely has the ability. His short passing is pretty good. The only thing which I haven’t seen him doing is the long passing like Scholes, Becks and of that kinds. I really doubt we’re gonna see that now. All Cleverley, Kagawa and Moura are pretty good when it comes to one touch football, masters of that. So I think that’s how we’re going to play now. Something that was displayed at the start of the previous season.

  2. Not seen him play, but if he is as good as reported then he’d be more than welcome. I can’t help but think that our squad needs strengthening elsewhere as a priority though, although maybe Sir Alex thinks that if we can threaten the opposition enough and get them on the back foot we can get by without strengthening the half back line.

    We’ll see. Ronaldo certainly took pressure off everyone else by posing a constant threat to the other team.

  3. Think buying him and kagawa and shifting to 4231 may be a sign that we might be about to employ a more counter-attacking system like Madrid of the last 2 years maybe. Kagawa works inbetween the lines like an Ozil and Moura, although nowhere near of the same quality gives you that explosive unpredictability like Ronaldo.

    I’ve seen him play many times and don’t be fooled by youtube comps. He gets tackled a lot and runs down blind alleys. Also his final ball is poor at the minute but when he clicks he’s unplayable. It’ll be a good 2 years of grooming before you see him at his best.

    One last point, I know a lot of fans have been harking on about a new CM, but I really do think that the quality is at the club already in the likes of Cleverley, Lingard, Tunnicliffe, Cole, Petrucci, Daehli and now Powell. SAF was going to start introducing Pogba and Morrison into the side but they left so I think their places will be filled with the aforementioned.

    I think he might be planning a make-do-and-mend job centrally for the next couple of seasons so as not to stifle the development of that very talented group. As Scholes and Giggs get closer to retirement (and Fletcher’s illness) there’ll be opportunities for a couple of them to get their foot in the door which there wouldn’t be if we signed a £30m established CM. I think that’s why he’s said Carrick is so important, because he’ll be the one to bring them along and help mature them.

    What do you reckon?

  4. I have not seen him playing i believe that lucas can make remarkable impart with united players like rooney kagawa scholes cleverly.with this they can reclaim the leagure from city.

  5. I used to not believe any of the speculation bollocks u see in the papers these days like the Daily Mirror and Mail etc but to be honest after the past couple months its hard to ignore these rumors anymore. Thers def some truth in a lot of them to be fair. From Van Persie, Modric, Hazard, Kagawa, Baines etc – United really look interested. It probablu won’t happen but hey – at least United are trying to go for some big big players like a rvp, Moura, Modric etc. Its not easy. Phil from Prestwich thinks United are just chilling and not doing anything to sign players. Little does he know United have probably made bids for at least 6 players this tranfer window lol. I’d love Moura @ United. Who wouldn’t?! He looks like he’s a massive talent and I also have a funny feeling were gonna get van persie although I’d hate to see him wearing a MUFC shirt! I don’t like the guy that’s for sure but there’s no doubt he’s one of the best strikers in world football at the moment so let’s see what happens

  6. Good Article Doron! This kind of move plus the acquisition of Kagawa clearly shows a change in approach for United. United can go 4312, 4141 or 4231 and ensures United always put teams on back foot with lots of skillful players interchanging fast. Last season’s approach was just too predictable thus I would totally welcome His arrival. Also note that Kagawa wont play every game same as Lucas thus rotation is also key here.

  7. My point about the CM is not that we don’t have quality, it is that last hearths balance was wrong. I feel we need a different type of player there to compliment wither scholes or Carrick, (whose strengths and weaknesses are in the same areas). If the quality is coming through from the reserves and youth level, fine. But a ball winner was lacking last year for sure.

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