Manchester United must surely bring in at least one more midfielder this summer. Ander Herrer has come in from Bilbao and already looks to have plugged the creative vacuum left by the departure of Paul Scholes. But United need to invest in at least one new partner for the excellent Spaniard – a player who can break up opposition attacks and get the ball to Herrera.
Much of the transfer hype this summer has been about Manchester United’s pursuit of Arturo Vidal. But question marks over the huge fee and the injury problems of the player have made this a complicated deal.
AC Milan’s Dutch midfielder Nigel De Jong is potentially available and he could represent a solid if slightly underwhelming addition to the team.
But there is another alternative. A player who has been regularly linked to Manchester United over the last year is Inter Milan midfielder Fredy Guarin.
There’s been talk over the last couple of days that Juventus might try to sign the player this summer, further limiting Manchester United’s options if they fail with the Vidal bid.
So it could be a case of now or never for Guarin to United. He’s arguably more mobile and technically proficient than De Jong and likes to get forward whenever possible. But he also does the defensive part of his job really well and could prove to be a low-risk gamble.
He won’t cost the earth and even if he didn’t make the starting 11 every weekend he would be a good addition to the squad and someone who would seldom let Manchester United down.