The soap opera of Manchester United's acquisition of Sneijder is about to end, not because the deal has been finalized, but because it has fallen through. Although Manchester United Chairman David Gill said that the club would sign more players, even a world-class superstar, Sir Alex Ferguson's words are more authoritative. On July 30th local time in the UK, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson discussed the successor of Scholes for the third time. The boss of Manchester United stated that the first choice of Manchester United was not to acquire players in the transfer market, but to discover new talents within the team; This statement by Ferguson, coupled with Inter Milan coach Gasperini's request for Sneijder to stay, basically means that the Dutch midfielder will not be able to land at Old Trafford. The British media "Daily Mail" disclosed that if Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson finds the successor of Scholes from within the team, there are two people who can try.
The first one is the new star of Manchester United and England, Cleverley. Cleverley is about to turn 22 years old, plays as a midfielder, joined Manchester United's youth academy in 2005, and was promoted to the first team by manager Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2009. Due to the abundance of talent in Manchester United's first team at the time, Cleverley started a wandering life of loans from the day he was transferred to the first team, during which he was loaned out to Leicester City, Watford, and Wigan Athletic. In the past season, Cleverley played for Wigan Athletic for a season. Due to injury issues, the young Manchester United player only represented Wigan Athletic in 25 games, but still managed to score 4 goals and provide 2 assists, performing admirably. He helped Wigan Athletic survive relegation in the last round. This season, Cleverley performed so well that he almost made the England national team under Capello, but missed out due to injuries.
The second Manchester United player who could succeed Scholes is Anderson. Anderson is not much older than Cleverley, he is 23 years old, plays as a midfielder, his previous position was an attacking midfielder, but now he is often placed in a defensive midfield role by manager Alex Ferguson. Anderson is a product of Brazilian powerhouse Gremio, joining Porto in the summer of 2006. It should be noted that before Anderson came to Europe, as the captain of Brazil's U17 team, he helped his team win the South American Championship title, and also had an excellent performance in the U17 World Cup, winning the FIFA Golden Ball Award in this age group. Outstanding performances caught the attention of various major clubs, and due to his playing style being very similar to Ronaldinho, he was also given the nickname "Junior Ronaldinho", and Brazilian media regarded Anderson as another rising star of the Samba army.
Unfortunately, Anderson's turning point in growth came in the summer of 2007, when Ferguson spent £18 million on him. At the time, Anderson was just 19 years old, showing how highly regarded the Brazilian talent was by Ferguson back then. After joining Old Trafford, Anderson's growth began to be restricted, and with the presence of Scholes and others, he was no longer able to display his attacking talents, taking a detour in his career at Manchester United. To date, Anderson has made 129 appearances for Manchester United, scoring 5 goals. In most cases, the Brazilian player appears as a defensive player. The British media "Daily Mail" reported that after Scholes' retirement, if Manchester United does not buy his successor, Ferguson should take a bet on Anderson. Notably, the paper also lists Anderson as the player within Manchester United who is most qualified to succeed Scholes. Regarding Anderson succeeding Scholes, Ferguson recently gave implicit approval, recognizing the Brazilian player's offensive abilities.
"This boy is a rare talent, we expect him to become a key player in the team this season," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson told the "Daily Mail". "He scored four goals for our team last season, if he can score eight or nine goals this season, it will be a significant improvement. He has the ability." Indeed, Anderson has the potential to be reborn, once again excelling as his favorite attacking midfielder, perhaps in the upcoming season. Meanwhile, Berbatov's future has become subtle again, as Paris Saint-Germain, the "Manchester City" of Ligue 1, has made an offer to Manchester United. They are prepared to spend £17.5 million (equivalent to €20 million) to acquire last season's Premier League Golden Boot winner; although Berbatov is unwilling to leave Old Trafford, with a £17.5 million offer for a player over 30 years old, Manchester United has no reason not to let him go.