Man United’s Midfield Transfer Targets, Part 3, The Continental Mediano’s, Summer 2012

#5 Daniele De Rossi of AS Roma

The most experienced midfielder of the lot is a World Cup winning Italian. A man who really needs no introduction, De Rossi is still one of the toughest players around. Known for his extreme abillity to punish his opponents with crunching tackles, wonderful pressing and creative distribution, he’s still one of the premier players in his position.

Strengths

Daniele de Rossi is, arguably, the most complete defensive midfielder in the world. As mentioned, he tackles with menace, he’s great at forcing the opponent to commiting errors, he can pass the ball, he can advance with the ball and he’s an experienced character. Also, having just turned 28 he’s in the prime of his career and De Rossi is still keen to showcase his abillties that very few posess.

Nicknamed “Il Capitan Futuro” (The Future Captain) is just a testament to the leadership abillties of De Rossi. Abilties that could come well in handy for a Manchester United-side struggling in the center of the pitch. During a tight squeeze, you can always rely on De Rossi to get the job done.

For years, one of De Rossi’s biggest fans has been Sir Alex Ferguson who identified his talent when he was as a teenager, leading to sustained interest in his signature for almost 10 years if reports are to believed. Furthermore, When the season comes to an end, De Rossi will be out of contract and getting such an experienced and talented player on a free is an opportunity Sir Alex may decide is too good to be missed!

Weaknesses

Despite his reputation for being such an awesome defensive midfielder, at 28, he’s beginning to slow down a bit and may have reached his peak a bit too early. This may be coming from the uncertainty surrounding his future at Roma, as well as reported personal problems (which we will not go into), which could be the reason why De Rossi’s head has seemingly been out of the game for a while?

And then we have to consider his age and look to the future. Why not get the best talents out there and mould them into true Red Devils? Why not spend big money on today’s up- and coming stars in order to secure somewhat of a reinforcement today, and a solid squad for years to come. Hey, we didn’t do too bad when we signed Rooney, Ronaldo and Phil Jones at a very young age?

Transfer Likelihood= ✔✔
Short-Term Impact= ✔✔✔✔
Long- Term Impact= ✔✔