Manchester United Could Sign German As Alternative To Strootman

Man Manchester United have set their eyes on Borussia Dortmund’s star player Ikay Gundogan. This is coming after Van Gaal reportedly concede defeat in his attempt to sign Kevin Strootman, with Roma quoting Manchester United €75 million. As been reported by daily express, Ikay Gundogan is seen as cheaper alternative to Strootman and as such Maanchester United are closely watching him. United according to the report accepts the fact that they can not afford Strooman because of the bogus amount of money AS Roma wants for him. United believe having spent over  €100 million during the summer, paying such amount to Roma will see them running foul of UEFA’s FFP, and being sanctioned which the club wants to avoid.

However, is Gundogan a good buy? The German international signed for Borussia Dortmund from FC Nurnberg in 2011, he is a player endowed technical abilities and an eye for passes. He was a key player for Dortmund during their league winning campaign 3 seasons ago. The playmaker was also phenomenal in Dortmund’s defeat of Real Madrid during the semi final match 2 seasons ago, and when they faced Bayern Munich at Wembley for the final, Gundogan scored a goal to help keep Dortmund’s hope of winning the Champions league alive after going down 1-0, though they lost the match eventually.  He is an integral part of Dortmund’s setup and without him, it could be argued that the team has not been the same. He is certainly a good buy for any top team, as his abilities will stand him out. The fact that he is young also counts a lot in his stead and should Manchester United sign him, he could be an astute buy. Without a prolific playmaker within Manchester United’s rank, Gundogan will be filling a void created by the retirement of Giggs and Scholes. And signing him will bring that attacking flair that has been missing since the departure of Ronaldo. Already, Di Maria has been providing an attacking instinct for Manchester United, but should Gundogan sign, then Manchester United can have the option of attacking via the middle instead of having to always attack via the wings. The presence of Gundogan will also allow Di Maria to concentrate more on causing the opposition problems while Gundogan does the breaking of opponents attacking play.

But that’s where the good aspect of signing him stops. Gundogan is an injury prone player, and his latest injury (an inflamed nerve in his spine) saw him being ruled out for almost a year. He played just once for Dortmund last season, missed out completely on the world cup, and “might” play his first competitive match next week. If Manchester United were to sign him, there is all tendencies that he could turn out to be another Hargreaves in the making. And presently, Manchester United cannot afford such a scenario, where their star player will always be under the surgeon’s knife trying to correct some injury. There is no doubt about his talent and what he will be bringing to the table for the team, but with the decline being experienced by Manchester United, the club will need a quick fix and won’t have the patience or luxury of being held ransom by a particular player’s repeated injury problems. And that is why it will be a terrible idea for Manchester United to deliberate signing Gundogan.