Man United Agree £20.6m Cash Plus Two Player Swap Deal to Sign Benfica Playmaker Nicolas Gaitan
by
The Newshound April 13th, 2012
Old Trafford side reportedly reach an agreement to land highly rated Argentine international who apparently impressed Sir Alex Ferguson when Benfica came up against the Premier League table toppers in Champions League action this term.
Portuguese source O JOGO, is this morning reporting that Man United and Benfica have agreed a deal that will see the Premier League side pay €25m (£20.6m) for Argentine playmaker Nicolas Gaitan and will include two Old Trafford players into the deal.
Sir Alex Ferguson has been strongly linked with a move for the 24 year old Benfica man who has been in stunning form for the Lisbon side ever since he moved to the Estádio da Luz from Boca Juniors in the summer of 2010. The Argentine international has notched up 23 goals and 13 assists in the 85 appearances he has made for Jorge Jesus’s side and was especially productive during the club’s Champions League run this season.
O Jogo asserts that two player will move to Benfica from Man United as part of the deal though their report does not state which duo would make such a move but given that young striker Bebe may well be set to leave the club this summer after failing to justify his £7.4m fee it would be a fairly decent suggestion that the Portuguese Under 21 international could be included in this deal.
Ferguson has been linked with a number of creative central midfield talents over the past 18 months and a move for Gaitan could be considered a more cost effective option than pushing on with interest in the likes of Wesley Sneijder and Luka Modric, both of whom could well have involved a pretty hefty price tag and exorbitant wages.
Man United could well do with an assist-making/goal-scoring presence in the centre of their midfield as the likes of Michael Carrick, Anderson, Darren Fletcher and Tom Cleverley do not offer much in that regard.
Sir Alex Ferguson is well known for his purchasing of players from the Portuguese leagues having previously brought in the aforementioned Bebe as well as Anderson, Cristiano Ronaldo and winger Nani in the last few years.