With the arrival of Juan Sebastian Veron from Lazio for a British record fee of £28 million to Manchester United was a bit strange for me. They already have arguable the best four midfielders in the England at the moment with Giggs, Scholes, Beckham and Keane. The big question is who will make way for Veron to play?

£28 million is a lot of money, and I’m sure Sir Alex did not pay that much for Veron to sit on the bench. He has four quality midfielders already, so I was a bit surprised when the deal was announced. The signing of Ruud Van Nistelrooy was good, as they could do with more quality strikers, but if anywhere really needed to be strengthened was the defence. Lillian Thuram has joined Juventus recently for the same sort of money to Veron’s move, and so if United had made a move for him, they would not have a selection crisis in midfield and they would have a much better defence, an area that was always the weakest in the Champions league last season.

For me Alex Ferguson has several options, play a 3-5-2 formation which is unorthodox and strays from Ferguson’s preference of a 4-4-2 formation. He could use a squad rotation system as used by Chelsea and Arsenal. This has several drawbacks, you can get very little consistence in changing the team constantly, and Beckham and co will not take to kindly to playing from the bench in several matches. Finally he could sell one of the other players. Any of the United four could get a price of £15-30 million at auction, with a whole host of Italian and Spanish clubs to lead the bidding. Here is my run down on who may go:

David Beckham – One of the most famous footballers in the world, and more for his hairstyles than his football. Even then he is one of the best midfielders in England, and currently the England international captain. A superb passer and crosser of the ball he can play either in the centre or wide right of a midfield. This versatility could come in us
eful if it comes to a squad rotation or selection with five midfielders. Also an expert free kick and corner specialist and would be a huge loss to the team in these departments. Has reportedly signed a new £70,000 a week contract, which includes a percentage of all shirts and merchandising bearing his name. Is unlikely to go if the rumours about his contract are correct, but a number of Italian clubs were interested last season, and with his wife Posh Spice Victoria Adams wanting to live some where more attractive that Manchester could decide to move elsewhere. Still is unlikely to move from United after coming up through the youth system at United.

Ryan Giggs – Tricky left-winger, who has caused troubled for defenders across Europe since breaking into the United first team in the 1991/92 season. Older than Beckham and Scholes, at 27 years old. Holds an ace in team selection that he is the only left winger, so will be unlikely to be sold or dropped as often as central and right sided players. Good at running at defenders with the ball the Welsh international has pace and a wicked cross. Has a reputation for not playing in friendly games for Wales and has had troubled with injuries, especially his hamstrings. Scored a great goal against Arsenal in the FA cup two years ago, a true mark of his quality. Probably not to go as it would leave United exposed on the left flank, but again if Ferguson decides to sell there will be no shortage of potential buyers.

Paul Scholes - Less of an icon than David Beckham, but mainly because of Beckham’s charisma, not lack of Paul’s football ability. Great at long range shots and has scored some spectacular goals for both club and country. Scored a fantastic goal against Mexico recently and a brace against Scotland that took England to Euro 2000. Has come up through the youth system along with Beckham, Butt the Neville brothers and Giggs. A great passer, and good in the tackle, but has had disciplin
ary problems. Also has a great work rate and covers a lot of ground in midfield, getting forward and back so many times in the game. Scholes plays a similar role to Veron, so his place could be in doubt, but is one of the best midfielders in England, and Europe at the moment, and it would be wrong to sell such a talented player

Roy Keane – Irish tough tackling and hard working midfielder. He is on a reported £52,000 a week and some feel he is fully deserving of it, inspiring Manchester United to eight league titles and a European Cup victory often as captain. There is no doubting his commitment and passion, but sometimes let it spill over into aggression and as a result has a poor disciplinary record. Still he is talented, scoring some vital goals, is a good passer and an awesome tackler. His reputation stands alone as the tough guy and could United afford to miss this?

The man himself – Juan Sebastian Veron – 26-year-old Argentine international signed from next years champion league contenders and Italian giants Lazio. Lazio have had a poor season, despite qualifying for the champions league, they lost the Italian title to city rivals AS Roma and have lost two midfield star players in Veron to United, and Czech Pavel Nedved to Juventus. With money in the bank they could afford to send some big money in the close season, but as yet have not done so. Veron himself is capable of playing in either a central or right sided role in midfield, but is better at getting forward in the Paul Scholes type mould, rather than a tough tackling midfield general like Roy Keane. His main strengths are running forward with or without the ball and can shoot both footed, and from distance. He is also a good all round passer, not in the Beckham bracket, but useful. His past record speaks for itself; starting at Boca Juniors in Argentina he was quickly spotted and signed for Sampadoria in 1996 aged 20. He played for Sampadoria for two seasons, before m
oving onto Parma. There he enjoyed success, winning the Italian Cup and the UEFA Cup, before moving to Lazio under now England boss Sven Goran Eriksson. There he was also successful, winning the league, Italian cup again, and beating Manchester United to win the European Super Cup. He is a regular in the Argentine international team, and has won 41 caps scoring 6 goals. Last season Veron was involved in the forged passport scandal that shock Europe, with many South Americans claiming to have European grandparents, but many were found to be fraudulent. Veron was cleared of all wrong doings, and has also not been involved in any drugs scandals, unlike team mate at Lazio Fernando Cuto who is now serving an 18 month ban for nandralone.

It is hard to see how Veron is going to fit into the United starting eleven. Manchester United now have five quality midfielders, not counting youngsters Jonathan Greening and Luke Chadwick, and cover Nicky Butt. Unless they play a 3-5-2 formation they are not all going to play, and if Ferguson does adopt a squad rotation system the stars will not be happy and want to move away. It is not a nice headache for Ferguson, having to juggle and fit five players into four slots. Unfortunately my tip to leave will be Paul Scholes. I am a great admirer in his qualities and feel that he is a great player, perhaps even better than Beckham in some ways, but he gets less notice due to a quieter personality. He is and will be a star for many years to come, but maybe not for United. His and Veron’s styles of play are too similar to play with each other. Giggs is the only left sided player, Keane’s graft and grit in the middle is too good to lose, and United will be a poorer team without him, and David Beckham is a superb player, too good a player to lose for his free kicks and corners, also general passing and crossing, but also for his name. Merchandising with Beckham’s name is a big business, so big it is included in his
new contract, and is not good business sense for United to throw away one of their biggest assets, even if they pocket £30 million from the sale. No for me Scholes is the one who has to watch his back A big move to Italy could be on the cards, unless he feels like spending a lot of this new season on the bench. It is a pity, as I feel he is too good a player to lose, but it is not possible to see how Scholes can play in the new look United midfield. A 3-5-2 formation would suit everyone, but a defence that looked rickety last season with 4 defenders, would be even more suspect with just three. In an ideal world they could play this, and Paul could play a free role with Veron in the centre, but is unlikely to happen. I fear the worst, and hope I am wrong, but Paul Scholes could be on his way out of United soon.