With Nemanja Vidic declaring that he is to leave Manchester United in the summer and his agent nearly agreeing a move to Italian Giants Inter Milan, it surely signals an era at Old Trafford. The present club captain was roped in the Red Devils squad by legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson in the January transfer window of 2004 from Russian side Spartak Moscow, becoming the then highest paid defender in the Premier League. Since then he has gone on to win a plethora of medals at Old Trafford and as last night’s horrific 0-2 reversal at the hands of Olympiakos showed, it might well be curtains for Rio Ferdinand too. So here are the top three replacements to reshuffle David Moyes’ defence come this summer.
Ezequiel Garay: the Red Devils have been linked to the Argentine for quite some time now, but any concrete bid hardly materialised. The 27-year-old was a miserable failure at real Madrid but he has grown and matured as a very able defender for Benfica. Garay is brilliant on the ball, with his no nonsense attitude and always willing to put his body on the line. He is also an imposing presence at the back, something which the Red Devils need and also is a real threat from set pieces. He will not come cheap, but will be worth the splurge of cash.
Eliaquim Mangala: The Frenchman is currently playing his trade at Portuguese side Porto and could be the next big thing in French football. The highly rated twenty would find it immensely difficult to reject the affluent consortias, the riches and fatter paychecks of the attractive Premier League. The Porto defender at 6’2 is just the perfect choice for Moyes with his man mountain-esque presence at the back, the ability to ditch out one on one situations and always having the eye on the ball. Porto rarely sell cheap and are hard to strike up a bargain with, but as they say, riches are not for rags.
Mehdi Benatia: Despite United closely monitoring his development at Italian side Udinese, Alex Ferguson didn’t get this Morrocan. He has since then moved to Roma, where he is now an integral part of the side and his rise at the heart of the defence has catapaulted from the desire and willingness to succeed at the very top. An imposing figure, tough to get past defender is just what the doctor orders for United at the end of the horrific stuttering campaign.
