Bastian Beefs Up United's Midfield.

Bastian Schweinsteiger will have the great honour of becoming the first German national to play for the Red Devils when he makes his Man United debut. A surprising fact in the modern era of football.

By the time the new season kicks off Bastian will be 31 years old and many people believe United have bought a player coming towards the end of his career, which is true, but when it's considered the ages of the likes of Scholes and Giggs when they were playing and the still active Carrick then his age shouldn't be in question.

What United have bought is a midfielder with great experience and at a fairly cheap £14m, a player who showed commitment to one club and an individual who has won championships galore, including a World Cup. Now that's exactly the type of player that United have needed.

Of course Louis van Gaal knows all about the German from his time as coach of Bayern Munich and that should ease the transition from the Bundesliga to the Premier League as the manager will know exactly where, when and how to use the midfielder to the best effect. His Champions League experience won't go amiss either.

Schweinsteiger had been at the Bavarian giants since a youth player, joining the club in 1998 and progressing through the ranks. Although known as a world class midfielder Bastian started his career as a left-back, but was quickly switched into the middle of the park.

He was given his first-team debut at the age of 18 in 2002 by Ottmar Hitzfeld. It was in the Champions League and he came on as a substitute against the French team Lens and from that moment he didn't look back.

Over the next 13 years, the formidable midfielder would go on to make almost 350 appearances for Bayern scoring 45 goals along the way. He has also played under some of the most respected coaches in Europe. The likes of Hitzfeld, Magath, van Gaal, Heynckes and Guardiola.

It's no surprise to see that Schweinsteiger has won basically all there is to win in the game, including 8 Bundesliga titles, 7 German cups and 1 Champions League as recently as 2013 when Bayern defeated German rivals Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at Wembley stadium.

Man United fans are all too familiar with Bastian from the last time that United played Bayern in the Champions League two seasons ago. The 1st leg of the quarter-final was played at Old Trafford and his goal cancelled out an opener by Vidic, but his joy of scoring was short lived as he received a red card and had a spat with his new United captain Wayne Rooney. The match ended 1-1 and Bayern would see off United in the second leg.

As an international player Bastian has represented Germany at all levels and he made his full international debut in 2004. Since then he has gone on to make 111 appearances and scored 23 goals. He became a World Cup winner in 2014 when Germany defeated Argentina in the final in Brazil. In the semi- final he, along with Toni Kroos, totally controlled the match and humiliated the hosts 7-1 on their own patch.

The 'midfield mastermind' has many strings to his bow the main one being his stamina then combine that with his excellent reading of the game which allows him to be in the position to score spectacular goals and add assists.

He also has the ability to strike a ball with such power either from open play or from free-kicks and is fierce in the tackle. Basically, all the attributes that United have not seen in midfield since the likes of Paul Scholes and Roy Keane.

Schweinsteiger could be the answer to United's biggest problem in recent seasons by adding that bite into the middle of the park, which should allow the more creative players to strut their stuff confident that they have a player of his quality and experience behind them.

The capture of Bastian is not only a marquee signing, but also a statement of intent by Louis van Gaal.

Willkommen Bastian and good luck over the next three seasons.

Miles Dunton.

Farewell to United's Flying Dutchman.

In 2012 Robin van Persie left the Gunners to fire Manchester United to their record breaking 20th Premier League title and in doing so cemented his status as a hero among the United fans.

However, all good things must come to an end and after three years at Old Trafford Robin van Persie has agreed to sign for Turkish outfit Fenerbahce in Istanbul.

After eight years at Arsenal in which he only won the FA Cup van Persie was brought to United by Alex Ferguson for a fee of around £23m and immediately made an impact with the United faithful by choosing to wear the number 20 on his shirt explaining that if the Red Devils win the Premier league in his first season it would be their 20th.

His debut didn't exactly go according to plan when he came on to replace Welbeck against Everton, but he couldn't stop the Toffees winning 1-0 at Goodison Park, however, five days later he started his first game for United and managed to score in front of the Old Trafford crowd as United beat Fulham 3-2.

At Arsenal van Persie had regularly been sidelined with injuries, but in his first season at United it was a different story as he went on to make a total of 48 appearances scoring 30 goals a brilliant return by any standards.

The majority of goals that he scored proved pivotal in bringing the Premier League trophy to Old Trafford. They included his first hat-trick against Southampton, a late penalty at Anfield to secure a 2-1 win, a goal against his former club Arsenal celebrated with great aplomb, an injury time free kick away to Man City to give United a 3-2 victory and lastly an absolutely fantastic hat-trick versus Aston Villa to secure the league title. Included in his three goals against Villa was a sublime volley.

Everybody could see that van Persie and his manager enjoyed a very good relationship and it was summed up when the Dutchman struck a penalty away at Stoke after which he immediately rushed over to the touchline where he jumped into the grateful arms of Alex Ferguson.

Van Persie had also built a rapport with the fans who voted him their player of the year for that Championship winning season.

Sadly for United and as it turned out van Persie, Alex Ferguson called it a day while he was at the top and was replaced in the summer of 2013 with David Moyes. Things did get off to a promising start as van Persie scored a double against Wigan in the traditional curtain opener, The Community Shield, and he carried his goal scoring form into the first league match of the season scoring another two against Swansea City on the road.

However, the season turned out to be a disaster for the club with the players clearly not enjoying the style of play under Moyes. Over the season van Persie managed 28 appearances and scored 18 goals.

The one bittersweet match for van Persie was in the Champions League last 16 tie against Greek side Olympiakos at Old Trafford. Needing to overturn a 0-2 deficit van Persie really got amongst the visitors scoring another fantastic hat-trick to give the home side a 3-2 aggregate victory.

The celebrations were hampered by the news that United's goal hero had picked up an injury that would mean he would not only miss the quarter-final against Bayern Munich, but also meant that he would not be available for selection by interim manager Ryan Giggs, who had replaced sacked Moyes, until the season was all but over.

After that dreadful season things started to look up for the Dutch striker, not only had Moyes been replaced by his friend and national team manager Louis van Gaal, but he also had the 2014 World Cup tournament to look forward to in Brazil and what a start to the competition as Holland thrashed holders Spain 5-1 with van Persie scoring twice. The one that had everyone talking was the marvellous diving header from distance which earned him the nickname 'The Flying Dutchman.'

Van Gaal and his team managed to go all the way to the semi-finals and United fans became excited about the upcoming season, especially with the new talent brought into the squad which would include a potent forward line of van Persie, Rooney, Falcao and Di Maria. To say the fans were licking their lips would have been an understatement.

Van Persie was overlooked by van Gaal for the captaincy of United in favour of Rooney at the start of the 2014-15 season, but as the gentleman he is van Persie never moaned and gave his backing to his new captain.

Over the season van Persie managed to make one more appearance than the previous one, but it was his eye for goal that was the problem managing only 10 which all came in the league. To be fair, he did miss a chunk of the season with an ankle injury and at the age of 31 his stamina must have been sapped by a long run and the heat in the World Cup in Brazil.

His commitment to the cause could never be questioned along with the respect from the fans as was shown when he netted the late equaliser against Chelsea. Old Trafford erupted as he put the ball in the net and his shirt throwing celebration was one of relief and joy.

Even though United qualified for the Champions League by finishing fourth it became clear that van Persie wasn't in van Gaal's plans for the future and a move to Fenerbahce was agreed.

Robin van Persie had nothing to prove when he came to United as he was already a proven striker of pure class, however, in his time at the club he continued to surprise with the quality of his finishing especially in his first season.

If only he had joined at a younger age who knows what more he could have achieved as a Red Devil.

Good luck and thanks for the great memories and goals Robin.

Miles Dunton.

Man United Nations.

Enter the United dressing room on any match day and you will be greeted by a chorus of accents from all over the world as the room is filled by players from Spain, Argentina, Holland, Ecuador, Belgium, Brazil and of course the Home Countries but clearly the foreigners outnumber the natives and it will only increase.

Since the season ended transfer rumours have flooded social media and newspapers with what seems like every player on the planet having been linked to Manchester United. Players from all over the globe have had their profiles and transfer fees raised by even the most tenuous of links to Old Trafford.

This is not a new experience for the Old Trafford club as they have always been linked with the best talent around, but in the past the record transfer fees were paid out for the best of British talent Robson, Keane, Ferdinand and Rooney to name but a few. Nowadays, the big money in the Premier League is being paid to the likes of Angel Di Maria, Costa, Sanchez, Aguero and Hazard. Foreigners who are paid fortunes to show their class and unquestionable talents.

Nikola Jovanovic was the first foreigner to be signed by United when Dave Sexton brought the Yugoslav to Old Trafford from Red Star Belgrade in 1980 for £300,000.

However, I suppose the start of United's foray into purchasing talent from abroad really started in the nineties with the likes of Schmeichel, Kanchelskis, Solskjær and Cantona under Alex Ferguson. The price he paid for their services was minimal, bargains to say the least. What would the value of those players be in today's over priced market.

The early nineties saw Uefa enforcing the three foreigner rule on teams which meant all European clubs had to field a minimum of eight players from their own country in European competitions.

This new law inexplicably included players who even though were British and had been through United's youth system were also adjudged to be foreign. One player who suffered the most at the time was Welshman Mark Hughes.

United's chances of European glory were greatly hampered from that rule, especially in the 1993/94 and 1994/95 seasons when Fergie was unable to field his strongest side. If the '94 double winning side hadn't been restricted who knows how far they would have gone in the European Cup.

After the abolishment of the law Alex Ferguson commented "It's come two years late for us," he said, "because we'd have had a chance of winning the European Cup in 1994 otherwise."

The only benefit from that ridiculous rule was that United, under Fergie's guidance, put a stronger emphasis on finding English youth, which famously gave us the likes of Scholes, Butt, the Neville brothers and Beckham, who along with Giggs, Bruce, Keane, Irwin, McClair, Pallister and Cole would all go on to form the British and Irish spine of the team in the greatest decade of glory the club enjoyed.

Just as important to the club during that period were, of course, the plethora of foreign talented players, including the aforementioned Schmeichel, Cantona and Kanchelskis along with Solskjær, Johnsen, Stam and Yorke.

In the new millennium what a joy it was to go to Old Trafford and watch players like van Nistelrooy, Vidic, Evra, van der Sar, Park and a certain young Ronaldo strut their stuff on the pitch alongside British players such as Ferdinand, Neville, Keane, Sheringham and the ever present Giggs.

The only major disappointment was the record signing Argentine Juan Veron, who endured a torrid time in Manchester, he had the quality, but seemed overawed by Old Trafford and the price tag of £28.1m that came with his move.

Over time the scales have slowly been tipped in favour of the foreigners. Take last summer when only one of the six new players Louis van Gaal bought was English, Luke Shaw. To his credit Louis van Gaal did give chances to British players during his debut season but this was due mainly out of necessity. However, how many of those players will have another chance in the coming season if the transfer gossip is to be believed.

Van Gaal obviously values British players and even made Rooney captain when most people thought he would choose his compatriot Robin van Persie.

Of course the ability to attract the best players in the world has only been made possible with the amount of money that has been thrown at Premier League sides in the last couple of decades by the sharing of TV rights at home and in Europe, along with lucrative sponsorship deals and foreign owners ploughing millions into the clubs.

There are many pro's to all the foreigners plying their trade on our shores the most obvious being the level of talent that fans can watch week in week out is tremendous. The quality is clearly there for all to see and some players are worth the price of a ticket on their own.

The influx of players from around the world has made the Premier League the most watched league globally and of course it widens a club's worldwide fan base to the player's home country, which is particularly true in Asia. The sale of merchandise abroad produces more revenue for a club than Matchday ticket sales.

The scouting net is forever expanding and in recent years it has included African and Arab nations along with South America and Asia. No corner of the globe is untouched in the search for the next big talent and United benefitted from this system with youngsters such as Januzaj, Pereira and Milinkovic.

As with everything, there are also con's and my main gripe is the lack of loyalty shown to the club. The kissing of badges after a wonder goal means nothing when your agent tells you that he can get you an extra couple of zero's on your salary.

Gone are the days of one player one club. We will never see the likes of a Ryan Giggs type situation again, especially from a non-British player. In the near future, there will be fewer testimonial games for players as ten months at the same club will be unheard of let alone ten years.

It has to be remembered that the beautiful game is now controlled by agents. A situation that Sir Alex Ferguson always warned us against. I for one do not blame the players for wanting the best deal they can get to secure their future, but there has to be a more stringent set of guidelines to players' contracts and less power to their agents along with more restrictions on other clubs from approaching players still under contract.

I suppose the biggest negative is the lack of youth players coming through from home as they have less chance to make it at the bigger clubs. This therefore has a knock-on effect with the National teams or maybe it's as simple as the young talent abroad is much better than ours. Add to that the fact that when there is a quality British player who becomes available his price is astronomical think of Bale, Sterling and Kane.

At the end of the day, every fan wants to see the best players sign for their side and the excitement that is generated when your club is linked to a certain player, especially a world class talent is exactly what makes the transfer windows interesting to say the least.

Many people become bored of the constant speculation, but it does provide very interesting, sometimes heated discussions on the internet which is in contrast to the past when literally any transfer news did come via a friend of a friend.

In the end, it looks like Ryan Giggs will have to brush up on his language skills as the situation doesn't look like changing anytime soon.

Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.