Manchester United eyeing Juan Mata replacement
Manchester United have joined the race for Ross Barkley
Most Manchester United fans are firmly fixated on the club’s interest in Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann, but Jose Mourinho has even more summer changes in mind. The latest player to capture The Special One’s interest is Everton attacker Ross Barkley.
Reports from England claim that United have leapt in front of their Premier League rivals to lead the race for the English midfielder. Barkley has struggled to adjust to life under Ronald Koeman and as such, has held off on signing a new deal with the Toffees. A summer move away from Goodison Park may be in everyone’s best interest.
While Barkley clearly isn’t Koeman’s cup of tea, there will be plenty of Premier League managers who’d be happy to take on the challenge of managing him. He’s a strong, athletic midfielder with a proven ability to score Premier League goals. Players of his age and experience level don’t come available very often. It’s even more rare to see an English player of his quality hit the open market.
That, of course, means that Barkley won’t come cheap. Everton will do their best to incite a bidding war. Don’t expect that to be any issue for United. Mourinho will be given a virtual blank cheque to remake his squad this summer. The Red Devils will have the financial might to pay what’s required.
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The real question is whether or not Barkley will truly be Mourinho’s first choice. The Portuguese manager generally prefers to acquire more established stars. The last thing he’ll want is to try to mold and shape another young attacker into the consummate midfielder he desires. Just see Anthony Martial’s struggles this season as evidence of how challenging that process can be.
If Barkley does become available, Mourinho will feel some pressure from United supporters to bring him to Old Trafford. After all, United’s glory years were built on the back of English stars. With Wayne Rooney aging out of regular playing time, bringing Barkley on board to be the new English face of the starting XI would be a very appealing proposition for some of the club’s traditionalists.
Whether it’s Ross Barkley or some other big name star, look for United to spend big money on acquiring a new number ten this summer. Mourinho won’t head into the 2017-18 campaign with just Mata and Rooney to choose from.