Author Archives: Ben Emmott

Manchester United Linked With £50m Striker: Is He A Better Option Than Griezmann?

Whilst strikers such as, Suarez, Griezmann or Ibrahimovic steal all the headlines, one European goal scorer is sneaking under the radar.

Paulo Dybala is quickly becoming a fan favourite in Juventus. The 23-year-old has scored 23 goals in his 45 games in the Serie A, also making five assists. The Argentinian managed to score 20 Serie A goals faster than THE Juventus legend himself, Del Piero.

But with such a great goal scoring record already, it wouldn’t be long before he attracted attention from other giants in Europe, with Manchester City, Real Madrid and Manchester United all fighting for his signature, according to The Sun.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, despite what he says himself, won’t be able to play forever and will soon have to hang up his boots, which will leave the Red Devils once again needing a proven goal scorer, and it could potentially be Dybala, who will not be sold for under 50 million.

But with Manchester United heavily linked to Antoine Griezmann, would it be wise to ditch the Frenchman and steal Dybala out of Madrid and City’s hands?

I think not, Griezmann has proved himself in the tournaments such as Euro 2016 and has also scored 12 goals in 28 Champions League appearances, and also scoring 51 goals in 91 La Liga appearances, compared to Dybala’s 60 goals in 171 showing that he just has the edge on the Argentinian.

Griezmann may only be two years older than Dybala but he is much more experienced, after playing in huge games such as the Champions League final and the Euro 2016 final. Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have proved that playing in the biggest games is important for a player, both scoring goals this season when it matters most.

Another advantage of signing Griezmann is that he can fill in at striker, right wing and in the number ten role. It would be a smart decision to sign a player that has played world class in three different positions.

For the cost that you would have to sign either of them, I think the money would be better off going towards bringing Griezmann to Old Trafford, rather than Dybala. Both will be expensive transfers but any teams planning to pay so much for Dybala may be a gamble, but there is no doubt him and Griezmann will be battling against one another for the crown of best striker one day, whoever they play for.

It’s very unlikely that a deal for either of these players would happen in the January window, but when the summer rolls around, it would be worth keeping an eye on both players situations and the cash-rich Manchester United are likely to re-invest more millions into their team.

Manchester United ‘Leading The Way’ In Race To Sign This £85m-Rated Superstar

Antoine Griezmann lit up Euro 2016 in the summer, scoring six goals, assisting two goals, and claiming the player of the tournament award, and it seems that his hard work is being noticed in Manchester.

The Frenchman has scored seven goals in 16 games this year, which is impressive for a player who went on a three-month goal drought. Mark Ogden, from ESPN, has said: “Griezmann is expected to leave Atletico this summer and he will have the pick of the world’s elite clubs to choose from, with Manchester United currently leading the way.”

Old Trafford has a French connection now, with close friends Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba both playing for the side, which could very much tempt the Atletico Madrid player. But with Manchester United playing so well at the moment, some fans may wonder where he would fit in.

With Michael Carrick ageing and yet to sign a new contract at the club, it’s unsure whether he will be in the side in August, meaning another Manchester United midfielder could fill his position, leaving the number 10 position open.

Griezmann has been known to play as a striker, right-winger and number 10 for Atletico, scoring 76 goals in La Liga since 2012/13, which is 3rd best behind Messi and Ronaldo, showing that Griezmann will make an impact wherever he is played. Henrikh Mkhitaryan could also fit into the number 10 role and allow Griezmann to play right-wing. A manager such as Jose Mourinho would be able to work out how to fit in a player with such a large amount of talent into his starting 11.

In the 2015/16 season, Griezmann achieved 22 league goals, Martial was Utd’s top scorer in the league with 11 goals. Griezmann also made five assists in La Liga which was only topped by Wayne Rooney with six. Griezmann ended the season picking up the player of the year award, the first player to beat Messi or Ronaldo to the award since they were established in the 2008/09 season.

Since signing the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Manchester United have brought back their fear factor. When opposition defenders saw players such as Ashley Young or Jesse Lingard line up against them, it wouldn’t intimidate them, but now United are recruiting the world’s biggest stars, it’s all they can think about, and Antoine Griezmann would be the final piece to the already star-studded attack.

Memphis Depay seems to be heading out of Old Trafford, leaving another space for an attacker to take, and also leaving the iconic number seven shirt up for grabs, which is of course, the number Griezmann prefers to wear as his idol was the United legend, David Beckham, it seems everything is falling perfectly for this transfer to take place.

It would be quite an expensive deal, potentially breaking the world transfer record which United recently broke for Pogba, but we know Mourinho isn’t afraid to spend and he seems determined to make Manchester United the world beaters that they once were, so come August, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we saw Antoine Griezmann putting on the famous red shirt.

This Manchester United Defender Excelled vs. Everton - But Time To Go For Fellaini?

Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park on Sunday as Marouane Fellaini gave away a late penalty. Two players caught the eye for United on the day, but both for very different reasons.

Marcus Rojo supplied the first big talking point of the game after lunging into a 50/50 challenge with Idrissa Gueye, but was only shown a yellow card by referee Michael Oliver, much to the anger of the Everton players. The first half was dominated by controversial decisions as United players would argue Gareth Barry should have been sent off for two bookings.

After 42 minutes of sloppy play from both sides, the deadlock was finally broken. Anthony Martial supplied a perfect ball for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to chase and lob the ball over the stranded, Stekelenburg. The goal was given by goal line technology after the attempt hit the bar, post and then creeped over the line.

The first piece of action of the second half took place on the 53rd minute when Kevin Mirallas skipped past Rojo with ease and forced a good save from David De Gea, who would have been trying to forget his mid-week slip up against West Ham.

Ander Herrera hit the post with a great effort after some good work from Mkhitaryan on only his second league start for the club.

On the 85th minute, Marouane Fellaini was substituted on, and on the 87th minute, the same man gave away a penalty. The Belgian once again proving why he isn’t up to standards for a side like Manchester United. Leighton Baines kept his nerve and placed the penalty in the bottom corner, which proved to be the final goal in the game.

Phil Jones, hopefully back for good

When Phil Jones joined the club, Sir Alex Ferguson labelled the young man as a future captain of club and country, but the Englishman has been plagued with injury and hasn’t been able to live up to his potential. Back from injury, the centre-back has been extremely impressive and there was no change today. Jones kept Romelu Lukaku quiet for the whole game and made sure he didn’t win anything in the air, which is a tough task against such a physical player. The ex-Blackburn Rovers player was a brick wall and made sure David De Gea was protected. Jones had the confidence to play it out from the back to Michael Carrick instead of hitting it up the field and giving it away.

When managing Chelsea, Mourinho mentored John Terry into the player that he is today and if he can stay fit, I don’t think there is any doubt that he can reach the former England captain’s level.

How long can Fellaini hold onto his Utd Career?

Manchester United fans will not be wanting to see any more of Marouane Fellaini for a good few weeks, that’s if he can survive the January transfer window. The Belgian has never been in the good books of the fans ever since he joined the club and he simply isn’t helping himself. He doesn’t have the quality of the players around him and it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Mourinho put his belief in the midfielder to keep the ball for the final few minutes and add an extra man to the defensive duties, but another stupid mistake led to another draw. Surely it’s time up for Fellaini?