Nemanja Vidic has been a revelation to Manchester United’s defence, proving there’s no tackle he’ll pull out of and no header he can’t win. The crowd have been quickly won over by our Serbian superstar who Ferguson signed at steal of £7 million in the January transfer window the season before last. He has established himself quickly in the team and has been tipped as one half of the best defensive partnership United have ever had.
With the January window approaching again, United have today been linked with another Serbian defender, Vidic’s International team mate Branislav Ivanovic. The versatile defender has already been linked with the likes of Chelsea, Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid, and has shown signs of a very promising future. He captained Serbia’s Under 21s side in the European Championships in 2006 and was named in the team of the tournament.
A month ago, the 23 year old defender talked about a future away from his current club, saying, “If I were to leave Lokomotiv, I would want to join one of the biggest sides in Europe – either a team in Italy, England or Spain.” He went on to say that he was keen on a move to Juventus over Inter. He has also previously said it would be a “dream” to sign for a club like Chelsea. Now United are looking interested, hopefully Vidic will be the man to persuade to lure the young defender to Manchester.
Currently, JoS is the only cover we have for Patrice Evra at left back, whilst Wes Brown and the inexperienced Danny Simpson are replacements for the currently injured Gary Neville. In the centre, Gerard Pique joins Brown as cover for the central defensive positions. Ivanovic is able to play across any of the back four positions and is apparently pretty handy in midfield as well.
The player’s contract runs out in 2011 and with interest from top clubs all over Europe, we would probably be looking at a larger transfer fee than the bargain we struck for Vidic, however this certainly looks like a deal we should be paying careful attention to. If this lad can perform anything like Vidic, who was just twenty four when we signed him, then we should certainly do all we can to bring him to United.
What do you think? Will Ivanovic be joining us in January?
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I saw Ivanovic in the summer playing for the Serb U-21s and he looked good, scored the goal that won it against Italy and defended well – in a defensive system.
If Vidic rates him and Ferguson likes him then that’s all I need to know. I can’t see too many defenders out there that can improve our back four, but this lad could.
Also, if I was Rio I would be a bit concerned about all this and making sure I wasn’t spending too much time organising Christmas parties and more on my training and preparation. I’m sure Ferguson can’t wait for the day he finds a replacement and gets him out of the door.
I think ferdinand is brilliant.you only notice it when he is not in the side(8 month ban).as for the lad ivanovic,never seen him play but if all the clubs mentioned are interested then he must be a decent player.and plus he was in the serbia squad that conceded one goal or something in the world cup qualifiers.that would mean we have 2 of the back 4 that played in that defence.but i feel we have enough defenders.fergie ignores the department we need most!i wont bother to mention which that is
Actually, with Brown snubbing the new contract offer, he will probably be leaving in the January window, as Fergie will obviously want at least something for him. This leaves us with only JoS as our experienced cover for right back. With Silvestre out injured too, I think we will have to make a move for this guy.