Manchester United have won the Morgan Schneiderlin derby over Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Mauricio Pochettino reportedly tried to bring Schneiderlin up with him to London last summer, but it didn’t work out. Arsenal was rumored to be interested this summer.
Schneiderlin joins United today after the club reportedly agreed on a deal in the neighborhood of £25 million deal with Southampton. The Old Trafford had an initial £20 million bid rejected; reportedly.
The deal is for four years, with an option for the fifth. It turns out that signing Bastian Schweinsteiger, didn’t automatically rule out signing Schneiderlin as well; which many had thought.
So where do both of these new players (and the other signing announced this past weekend, Matteo Darmian) fit? Well, this our first draft of a new potential Man United starting XI. It’s an attempt to predict what kind of system Louis van Gaal might come up with. Here’s some excerpts from the official statement released by the club on the Schneiderlin signing:
Morgan Schneiderlin: “I’m excited to be starting that journey on our trip to the USA. I know what Manchester United means to fans all over the world and I’m looking forward to experiencing that.”
Louis van Gaal said: “Morgan is a very talented player with great energy and ability. His skills will complement the players that we already have and I am very pleased that we have been able to complete this deal before the tour to the United States.”
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook