Spanish media sources say that Ander Herrera completed his medical in Spain today, and is now in Manchester. So it’s only a matter of time before United and/or Herrera make it official. Yes, Louis van Gaal has his first purchase of his tenure at Old Trafford. MUFC have their first signing of the 2014 summer transfer window.
But it could be the start of something much much bigger.
We’ve heard Van Gaal had a transfer budget of £150m to work with this summer to rebuild the Red Devils and bring them back into Champions League. Now we’re hearing £200m. The Athletico Bilbao midfielder is just the tip of the iceberg for what it is to come this summer.
A great piece on this topic in the Manchester Evening News, an excerpt:
Louis van Gaal’s £200m United jigsaw is set to have its first piece slotted in with the signing of Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao for £29m.
The 24-year-old Basque midfielder is finally about to make the move to Old Trafford ten months since the Reds original interest collapsed and three years since the club’s first interest in him.
Last summer David Moyes identified the Spanish playmaker as a key figure in his recruitment plans. But a proposed deadline day move last summer collapsed amid bizarre circumstances.
So who’s next? Well, obviously Luke Shaw is the one rumor that will never go away, as it appears Old Trafford will keep persisting as Southampton keeps raising the price for the teenage defender. Real Madrid star Sami Khedira is one to watch too.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on talk shows across the world. Banks has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, Washington Times, NBC and the History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)