Shot Stopper Sergio joins Man United.

Louis van Gaal has gone back to his managerial past by signing Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero on an initial three year deal.

The two worked together while van Gaal was the coach at AZ in Holland back in 2007 and the question will be whether he has joined United as backup for David De Gea or even a replacement for the Spaniard should he depart for Real Madrid as is expected.

Whatever the scenario, in Romero United have signed themselves a keeper who at the age of 28 has the all important club and international experience which will prove to be vital in the upcoming season with the return of European football to Old Trafford.

Romero is, however, best known for his international career than his club football, having been the No.1 choice for Argentina since Diego Maradona gave him his break back in 2009 and since then Romero has represented his country 62 times which includes two World Cups and two Copa Americas.

In the 2014 World Cup semi-final in Brazil, Romero was awarded man of the match after his heroics in goal derailed Louis van Gaal's dream of lifting the trophy as Argentina beat Holland on penalties. That match probably stuck in Louis van Gaal's mind when considering the purchase of Romero.

Sergio's less publicised club career started in 2006 where he spent a season at Racing Club in his home country before moving to Europe to join van Gaal at AZ in Holland where he stayed for four years making over 90 appearances.

He helped AZ win the Dutch Eredivisie title In 2008–09 and in that season, Romero kept a clean sheet for an incredible 950 minutes which extended from November through to February.

He remained at AZ for a further two years after van Gaal had departed, however in 2011 he joined Italian club Sampdoria. He started as first choice keeper at the start of his Sampdoria spell going on to make over 70 appearances, but towards the end of his time there he was loaned out to French outfit Monaco to provide cover for Subasic.

After a short time and lack of games, he only played 3 times, he returned to Italy as an understudy for regular keeper Viviano.

At 6'3" (1.92m) Romero is an imposing figure between the sticks and is equally as good in the air as he is at shot stopping. A confident keeper who needs club game time, so it will be interesting to see how he settles into life on the bench if De Gea stays at United and basically becomes a replacement for the departing Valdes.

On the other hand, if De Gea does decide to leave for warmer climates Romero will have a huge chance to show his worth as United's forefront keeper a challenge he better be ready for as the season is almost upon us.

Welcome and good luck Sergio.

Miles Dunton.

From Saint To Red Devil: Morgan Schneiderlin.

A Dutchman, an Italian, a German and now a Frenchman have created their very own European Union by signing for Manchester United. Last season the signings had a South American flair to it, but this summer Louis van Gaal has brought in talent from a lot closer to home.

Morgan Schneiderlin's move to United continues the long line of French talent to have graced the Theatre of Dreams. The midfielder has joined United on a four-year deal with an initial fee of around £24m.

One benefit of his signing is that he has the valuable experience of English football from his seven years playing at Southampton which have included stints not only in the Premier League but also both the Championship and League 1, add to that he is 25 years old, therefore United have signed a player coming into the prime of his career.

Schneiderlin was born in 1989 in Zellwiller, France and began his route to Old Trafford at RC Strasbourg aged only seven years old and progressed through their youth system finally making his debut eleven years later in 2006. After being groomed so long by the club he would only make a handful of appearances before being sold as his team were relegated from Ligue 1 at the end of the 2007-08 season.

His next port of call was Southampton joining them in the summer of 2008 for a fee of £1.2m. At the time, Southampton were in The Championship of the Football League and struggling with finance and fighting relegation. The manager at that time was Jan Poortvliet and he built a young side until he departed in January of Morgan's first season.

Worse was to come for the Saints as they were deducted 10 points as the owning company went into administration which guaranteed relegation to League One. Even with all the vultures surrounding the club Schneiderlin stuck with them.

It took Southampton three years and four managers to climb back to the Premier League and Schneiderlin was a huge influence on that success and was awarded for his loyalty with a new three-year contract in 2011.

Once back in the Premier League the Frenchman started to blossom as a midfielder and started to make bigger clubs sit up and take notice of his quality, however, he decided to stay at St.Mary's by extending his contract to 2017.

Not known for his goalscoring exploits, in 230 appearances for Southampton he only managed 14 goals, Morgan did manage to score against his future employers in a 3-2 loss to United at the beginning of the 2012-13 season. He performed at such a high, consistent level that season he was honoured as the Saints player of the year by both his colleagues and fans alike.

The following campaign, he made a total of 37 appearances as Southampton finally started to compete well in the Premier League, but they still found it difficult to hold on to their young, talented players and the likes of Luke Shaw departed for a chance of glory at bigger clubs.

In April 2015, Morgan received an injury that would keep him out for the remainder of the season and mean that he had played his last game as a Saint. Many suitors came calling for his services, including Spurs and Liverpool but it was the Red Devils who got their man and as in his own words 'Once I learned that United was interested in signing me, it was a very easy decision to make.'

His signing was announced along with the quality signing of Bastian Schweinsteiger and the new midfield of United is starting to take on a formidable shape add to that existing reds Carrick, Mata, Herrera, Fellaini & Co. next season promises to be an exciting campaign.

United have captured a player with a high work rate and natural ability a player who relishes a battle in the middle of the park and is not afraid to get stuck into tackles and his skills should aid the other players around him. How van Gaal will juggle the talent he has at his disposal only he knows, but it will certainly offer United positive options to choose from.

On a cautionary note Schneiderlin does seem to have a bad habit of getting his name taken by referees for example, in the last four seasons, he has received a total of 32 yellow cards, but only 1 red, which means he will have to tread carefully at United.

On the international front, Morgan has represented France at all levels and made his debut for the full squad against Jamaica in 2014 and was taken to the World Cup finals after originally being on standby. He made only one appearance in the tournament in Brazil and has to date played nine times for the 'Les Bleus'.

On a side note, before he played for the full international side there were rumours that he could, in fact, represent England as he had earned a British citizenship but it wasn't to be.

Welcome to Manchester Morgan and the best of luck.

Miles Dunton.

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.

Welcome to Manchester, Matteo.

It wouldn't have been at all surprising if fans were scratching their heads and rushing to football sources online when it was rumoured that United were showing interest in signing a certain Italian full-back from Torino.

It's one of those names that is familiar, but not at the forefront of the minds of fans when considering possible new defensive additions at United. All that is about to change as Matteo Darmian becomes the second purchase of the summer made by Louis van Gaal on a four year contract with the option of a further year.

All talk had been centered on the likes of Coleman, Otamendi and Ramos and while the fans were waiting for news of a big defensive buy this one sneaked under the radar.

So who is the 25-year-old that Louis van Gaal considers perfect for the right-back position.

Born in 1989 in Legnano, Italy. Darmian was trained at a young age by his father who just happened to also be a coach. At the age of 11 he was spotted by A.C. Milan and was invited to join their youth system and progressed well enough to make his debut for the Milan giants in a 'Coppa Italia' match as a substitute at the age of 16 in 2006.

The young Italian had to bide his time for his Serie A debut and that came one year later in the last month of the 2006-07 season again as a substitute this time in a defeat at the hands of Udinese.

Over the next two seasons, he would only go on to make a few more first team appearances for Milan and was eventually loaned out to Padova then in Serie B of the Italian league. He made a total of twenty outings in the 2009-10 season, chipping in with one goal. Darmian helped Padova avoid relegation by winning a relegation play-off.

At the end of his loan season, it was announced that the defender would be allowed to join Palermo therefore returning to Serie A for around €800,000. He had to bide his time to make his debut which eventually came in an Europa League match against Sparta Prague that the Italians lost. His Serie A debut for the club was a happier event as he came on for Pastore in a 3-1 win over Juventus.

His first start for the club was on the 6th February, ironically a significant date for United, 2011, but he picked up an injury and had to be withdrawn. In the 2010-11 season, he only made a total of 16 appearances in all competitions for the club. He needed to get a run going, but would have to look elsewhere to find it. Enter Torino.

Originally the transfer was another loan deal as his contract was owned by both A.C. Milan and Palermo. Once an agreement between those clubs had been reached he became a Torino player for €825,000.

Over the next four years Darmian would prove his value to Torino and go on to make a total of 133 appearances with the majority coming last season in which he made a massive 47 and contributed with 5 goals from his full-back position.

When you consider that he had only scored one goal in his previous three seasons, not a bad return. Finally, it seemed he had found a club where he felt settled and started to garner attention from some top Europen clubs.

It's not only at Torino where he worth has risen Darmian has also earned rave reviews for the Italian national team having made a total of 13 appearances over the last two seasons making his debut for the Azzurri against the Republic of Ireland in May 2014. He followed that up with an inclusion in Italy's World Cup squad and played in the opening match against England which they won 2-1.

He played in the remaining two group games, but Italy lost both and were out of the competition. It wasn't all doom and gloom as he was awarded the prestigious 'Pallone Azzurro' award as the best player of the Italian national team for 2014.

What can the United fans expect from the Italian? Darmian has the ability to play at either right or left-back, but it's on the right where he seems the most comfortable. In an emergency, he is also able to fill in as a centre-back.

He certainly doesn't lack pace and his engine has never come into question. At almost 6 feet tall, his height offers an aerial advantage in both defence and attack, and attacking is something that he relishes being involved in.

There is only a handful of Italians that have tried their luck at Old Trafford and Matteo has a great chance to make a success of his career as a Red Devil.

If he's anywhere near as successful as the last player United signed from Torino then his future at Old Trafford is bright, a certain Denis Law who also signed for United 53 years ago almost to the day.

Benvenuto a Manchester, Matteo and Good Luck.

Miles Dunton.