Ashley Young, David de Gea and Phil Jones have already
arrived. While on the way out are John O'Shea, Darron Gibson, Wes
Brown, Edwin van der Sar, Paul Scholes and - if the rumours are to
be believed - Nani, expected to relocate his ego to a more
accommodating dressing room before the start of the season. It is
changing times indeed at Manchester United.
The 19th title seems to have been the signal for the most
significant overhaul of his squad by Sir Alex Ferguson since the
You'll Win Nothing With Kids summer of 1996. And the summer of '96
might well have a bearing on the manager's thinking.
Six out, three in: it doesn't take an A level in sums to see the
mathematical discrepancy there. Plus, none of those arriving
directly address the issue most United fans would identify as the
most pressing: the central midfield.
Nor, according to reports, which dismiss the chances of Luca
Modric moving north, or Wesley Sneijder taking a pay cut or Jack
Rodwell actually being as good as his many supporters in the press
insist, does the transfer market have many options for Ferguson in
that regard.
Which suggests one of two things. Either the manager is unaware
of the problem there. Or he has plans which lie beyond the transfer
market. And given that he has remained at the top of his profession
for the past quarter century, I would wager that it was the
latter.
The view among more seasoned United watchers is that the
Scholes-sized hole in the middle is likely to be filled in ways few
had expected.
Jones, for instance, if he is to play as a centreback, could
find himself fourth in line behind Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and
his under-21 colleague Chris Smalling. But as a defensive central
midfielder, his combination of good distribution, cool control and
snappy tackle might well work nicely.
He could become the next Jack Rodwell, converted from defender
into graceful, artful midfielder. Though, lets hope for his sake,
unlike Rodwell, he actually gets picked in the starting line
up.
And alongside him, there is room for a recall for another
under-21 colleague, Tom Cleverley.
Recalled from Wigan where he had a successful time last season,
he has the potential to become a fixture in the side in a way that
Gibson never really promised. And in reserve, Ferguson has two
graduates from last season's youth cup winning team: the local bad
boy Ravel Morrison, and best of all Paul Pogba, rated as the finest
United youth product since 92, and, because he is tall, French,
black and plays in central midfield, described as the new Patrick
Vieira.
We can expect both to be given the opportunity to develop into
first team squad members this season.
But ahead of such potential starters, then there is the more
intriguing thought of another current United player being stationed
there, a man who clearly has what it takes to make it: Wayne
Rooney.
Anyone who saw Young play for England against Wales, by far his
most effective game for his country, will have noted that he was
playing centrally behind the main striker. With just one
significant trick in his portfolio, a shimmy with his right and a
move outside off his left foot, Young can be easily controlled by a
decent full back when he plays on the wing.
His chances against his fellow Ashley, Cole, for instance, would
not be ones to relish.
Put him in the centre, however, and his pace and willingness,
plus the elusiveness of his late runs, make him a proposition.
Ferguson certainly did watch him in Cardiff, and may well have that
position in mind.
In which case, Rooney could move back into the creative midfield
role that his performances have long insisted he was born to play.
And what a performer he might prove to be there: visionary,
controlled, leather-lunged and endlessly willing, it is Paul
Scholes reborn.
Here, then, is what might well be the United side to line up
against Manchester City in the Charity Shield.
De Gea; Fabio, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra; Jones, Rooney; Valencia,
Young, Park; Hernandez.
The future has indeed already arrived at Old Trafford.