Nani, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia, hell even Kagawa can be thrown into the mix. At one stage it sounded like the pick of the litter for wingers in the English Premier League. We have defensive issues, there was outcry that SAF should’ve signed a strong central midfielder, but at least our wide men were sorted.
Nek minnit….
Nani AWOL, Young’s form continually stifled by injuries (mind you that’s not exclusive to this season), and Kagawa, well let’s give him a little bit more time. And then there’s Valencia. The United fans’ and players’ Player of the Year last season. I suppose we could attribute some of his poor form to a few knocks, but that grace period has well and truly expired now. He doesn’t look close to the untouchable speed demon that stole our hearts last season. A shadow of that, as I’ve read so often the past few weeks.
So now Wilfried Zaha, one of the most promising and sought after young English players has arrived at Old Trafford (almost), and I’m just a little bit excited.
We’ll get to see him, Cleverley, Welbeck, Rooney, Jones, Smalling, and even Young all link up in what could potentially be a huge chunk of the England national squad for the next few years.
I’ll admit, prior to when he started getting linked to the club, I had not seen much of him outside of the match he played and ran ragged against United last season. Here in Australia we get very limited access to lower division matches, but after scouring YouTube for videos, I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen. Check it out for yourself if you haven’t done so already:
This kid has got skills, he’s got ridiculous pace, and his finishing ability seems reasonable as well (though 12 goals in 110 appearances doesn’t speak exactly speak volumes about it) . Sure he’s still a bit raw, he’s barely played at the top level, and I’m not expecting a superstar just quite yet.
What it does do however is fill a need for the team. Not just as an extra player, but as a motivator.
He’s only arriving at the end of the season, but that doesn’t mean the transfer won’t have a significant impact now. The most invaluable aspect of this transfer is that it will (and I’m just going on hope here) serve as a wake up call, a kick up the ass to the under-performing wingmen that were such an integral part of previous successes.
None of them are afforded the luxury of a guaranteed place in the starting lineup. With Zaha coming in, and Welbeck chosen for the wing position every now and then, United are more top-heavy than ever. Someone’s gotta go.
The Zaha Effect will surely claim a victim, and you would have to think it will be Nani, who has not only consistently under-performed for quite some time now (bar some very brief moments of his former brilliance), but probably still commands the highest transfer sum, or maybe more, has at least attracted the most interest from other clubs.
Nani has been a great player over the last few years, but a move away would be beneficial for both him and the club. A fresh start for him where he could be a consistent starter for a team would allow him to remind us all of why he was so good. Mind you, if in the remainder of the season he manages to rediscover and even go beyond the sort of form he has shown, that’s going to cause some problems.
As I said, Nani seems to garner a fair amount of interest, but that is undoubtedly related to the idea that he is available for the right offer. Should he find his form while Valencia and/or Young continue to struggle, the notion of availability could shift quite easily.
As fun as speculating is, we’ll just have to give it a few months and see what happens I suppose.
The Spot Kick 