It seemed like a done deal on Saturday night, Lucas Moura was more or less a Manchester United player. All that was needed was a medical and a signature, according to Daily Mail writer Bob Cass. What a difference three days make. Lucas Moura is still nowhere near being a United player, quite the opposite in fact. With Paris Saint Germain looking set to complete a 45 million euro swoop for the Brazilian, we find ourselves wondering where it all went wrong. We had gone from signing one of the best young talents in the world to being left deflated at another potential failure in the transfer market. Whether it will still happen or not is something that nobody knows, but it is looking more unlikely by the day. So, where do we go from here?
If reports are to believed, Sir Alex Ferguson is planning a move for Malaga wonderkid Isco, one of the most highly regarded youngsters in Spanish football along with the likes of Iker Munian and Javi Martinez. He must be a big money target then, right? Wrong. In fact, Isco could be one of the best buys of the summer, with a release clause of just £16m. But it gets better for potential buyers. It’s well known now that Malaga are in a tough financial situation, trying to cash in on some of their best players to help balance their books. This has already been demonstrated by Arsenal’s capture of Santi Carzorla for a modest £16.5m. This means that Isco’s price could be even lower than the £16m stated in his contract. If Malaga are desperate enough for the money, which it’s thought that they are, they may settle for anything around the £10m mark.
This would do two things. Firstly, it would make us as a club look a little less stupid for even contemplating paying £30m for an unproven Brazilian. Secondly, and more importantly, it would help save us up to £20m to spend elsewhere. This money could and probably should be used on a left-back, taking the burden off Patrice Evra on the left hand side of our aging defence. Leighton Baines has been talked about all summer long, and I think it’d be time to cough up the £15m that Everton are demanding. This is all, of course, dependent on our capture of Isco, which is admittedly a long way down the line, and that’s if Lucas Moura does indeed choose Paris over Manchester. I would be in favour of this, along with many others I’m sure. Isco, Robin Van Persie, Shinji Kagawa, Nick Powell and Leighton Baines would be a fantastic summer’s business.
Now, you may be wondering, who is Isco? Where does he play? I was asking people the same thing around about a week ago. Isco is actually very similar to Lucas Moura in many ways, just not as well known. He’s a versatile attacking midfielder who can play in a central role or on either wing. He has been on the verge of a full Spain cap for some time now, at just twenty years of age. In 2011-12, he scored five goals in thirty five games for Malaga. He is the type of player that Sir Alex loves, young, pace and has bags of potential. He could well become a star under the guidance of Sir Alex and his staff alike. Despite being an alternative to Lucas in my eyes, he could well end up being as good or even better than the Brazilian in the future.
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