THERE are unconfirmed reports this morning that a deal has been done regarding the transfer of Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace to Manchester United. David Gill confirmed their interest in him on Wednesday.
The footballer tweeted some days ago that he was on his way to the top of the Premier League and rumours have persisted that he will sign a deal and be loaned back to the Championship side in a Chris Smalling Fulham stylee.
GTS has been ‘researching’ the developments (reading the online opinion and newspapers with a coffee and a sausage muffin thank you very much Costa). Most of the opinion is as you’d expect, is he over rated? Can he make the step up? Are Arsenal seriously involved? Something of interest did crop up from James Scowcroft on Thursday (17.1.13). He was discussing Zaha’s appearance at Old Trafford for Palace in December 2011;
He was still at the stage where he wasn’t always able to make the right decision about when to use his ability to manipulate the ball at speed and take his man on – and when to look for the other options which a team-mate might provide. That’s the ability he has developed in the past 13 months. (The Independent)
There are two points of interest, YES this sounds a bit like Cristiano Ronaldo when he first kicked a ball in anger for United; Ronaldo would do step over after step over while those in the box did a crossword, caught up on their correspondence and ultimately watched the chance pass them by (usually over their heads). It also sounds like the frustrations he has had with Nani this season, while Ronaldo improved Nani has not and someone may have come along who is twice as exciting and equally as productive.
The player would arrive permanently at Old Trafford in the summer, which may put another fifty shades of unknown on Nani’s shoulders. We reported a few months ago how Ferguson had lost patience with Nani’s consistency and maybe his time here was drawing to a close, but because of what he DOES offer when he is on form we wouldn’t be shocked if he signs a new deal. Let’s bring that story bang up to date;
Sir Alex says Nani’s people are talking to club people about a new deal and the manager seems reluctant to sell because he offers something; frustration is what he offers. Ashley Young and Tony V have both had stints out wide that border on brilliant but they both equally seem to plumb the depths of inadequacy as often as they hit the heights. It might be time to take a chance on Wilfred, at the very least it will keep everyone on their toes.
GTS
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