Gossip: Moura to United? Everything on Lucas and how he would fit into the team

On Monday, The Sun understood interest from United for 19-year old Lucas Moura. The newspaper reported that the Brazillian youngster was ‘open to exit’, after the player revealed there was a  possibility that he could leave his current club this summer.

United were said to be ready to offer a £30 million bid for the talent.

But the Reds will have competition in the race for Lucas. Spanish giants Real Madrid are also pondering a move for him, and Inter Milan will be in the running for the player. Although, Sao Paulo director of football Joao Paulo de Jesus Lopes has poked fun at the Italian club’s interest.

“How can you pay £20 million for a player of Lucas’s quality?” Jesus Lopes told the Daily Mail. “There is no (formal) offer and, even if it were to appear, this amount is ridiculous. Italian football is broke – the club (Inter) are broke. It seems they are creating this to satisfy the fans.”

Reports say United sent a delegation to Brazil to persuade the player into signing at Old Trafford.

Moura will participate in the Olympics with his national team, and Sir Alex is said to be looking forward to signing the young promise before the tournament commences.

Meanwhile, Moura gave a hint to the connected teams: “I cannot guarantee that I will stay until the end of my contract [with Sao Paulo].” Players like Lucas are hard to find – fast, agile, great balance, superb passing accuracy, and beats defenders for run. Real potential.

Sao Paulo’s no. 7 has scored in 14 occasions, and has also contributed 9 assists in his 58 games in the Brazilian League. At 19 years of age, he has already participated in 15 international games with the senior team, but only scored once.

Contrary to popular belief, Lucas’ natural position is as a right attacking midfielder, not as a winger. Although, it is true that most, if not all, of his attacks start from the flank. He shines the most behind a striker, but is forced to play next to the sideline because of Sao Paulo’s 4-4-2 formation.

However, supporters speculate that with Kagawa’s incorporation, United will need to change their current formation to a 4-2-1-3 in order to grant Shinji his favorite position, in the hole. Nothing new there seeing his girlfriend, Ameri Ichinose, is a porn star.

The only possible way that both the Brazilian and the Japanese could play together is if Sir Alex decided to play a 4-3-2-1 with two attacking midfielders but no wingers, which is something that won’t happen under Fergie.

Moura plays as an attacking midfielder, but as previously mentioned, he is used, and can, play as a winger. If he were to sign, another alternative would be to keep the likeable 4-2-3-1 formation and see how he does on the sides with United.

One thing is certain, and that is that Ferguson will NOT move Valencia from the right, nor will he get rid of the attacks on the sides. Luckily for Lucas, he is very talented on both legs. That’s why my idea would be to keep Valencia on the right flank, keep Kagawa in the middle, and place the youngster on the left side.

When Robben, who is a lefty, played for Madrid, he was used on the left side of the pitch, but he couldn’t fully develop in that position. However, when he signed for Munich, coach Van Gaal decided to try the Dutch on the opposite side, and instead make him cut into the middle and take a powerful shot, a play which has now become Arjen’s signature move, if you will. The reason I mentioned this is because I think Ferguson could use the 15-capped International in this manner.

Like I said, Moura is more than capable of using both feet. Sir Alex Ferguson has always enjoyed having the wingers spread out – Ronaldo, Valencia or Nani are examples in recent years. The 19-year old could use his extraordinary skills to fool defenders and penetrate the defence, but he could also be a threat when cutting into the middle and taking his powerful shots.

It would be unfortunate to miss on such wonderfully gifted player and have another team take him. Of course, his signing could go both ways, as you cannot compare Brazilian defenders to the defenders in the Premier League, who are much more physical.

Follow The MUFC Newspaper on Twitter – MUFC Newspaper

More Stories Lucas Moura Manchester United Sao Paulo

16 Comments

  1. We have Kagawa in the hole with Rooney, Young, Nani, and Cleverly also capable of playing there, SAF likes orthodox wingers and Lucas is the opposite of that.

    Signing a 19 year old unproven Foreign player for 30m£ is something that will never happen.

    Lucas Moura is an incredibly gifted player, but he does not belong in English Football.

    I think a defensive / Box-to-Box midfielder would end our shopping spree this summer.

    1. Completely disagree with this statement just to say that Fergie is looking for orthodox wingers is all wrong and you didn’t read the article correctly. It was all about if they were to buy Lucas Moura were they would play him its about the formation and his great skill. Weather he is proven or not that doesn’t matter Ronaldo wasn’t proven in a more physically demanding league and he ended up ruling the roost in the Premier League for a number of years.

      And people talking about box-to-box midfielders the game has evolved a lot since we had the likes of Roy Keane where he was needed to get from box to box. Lesser teams don’t have that quick attacking drive so this would only be needed in the bigger games with teams like Barcelona or Man Shitty, we have Carrick that can do that also Fletcher if he was to return to football sooner rather than later.

      All in all if Man United were to sign Lucas Moura for 30million i would be a happy United fan cause the same as a lot of young players currently on the team have raw talent and can take us back to the top of the Premier League and back to the top of Europe were we belong.

      1. If we had 30m£ for Lucas Moura why not buy a proven world class winger with it?

        And buying a 12m£ player that has excelled against my own team is not comparable to buying a 30m£ unproven player from a different continent and different football style.

        And sadly after SAF’s latest quotes regarding Fletch, I don’t think he will ever return to his form. And Carrick at 30 is surely not capable of doing a job as an energetic box-to-box midfielder.

        And Yaya Toure ( box-to-box midfielder ) has shown how important a player with limitless energy and both superior defensive and offensive attributes is important to a team in modern football.

        We just can’t get YaYa , so why not get a similar type of player albeit younger and cheaper to do his job but at MUFC?

        1. Again you don’t seem to understand that Lucas Moura is not a winger (Right attacking midfielder is his position) he prefers the central position and were we as United lack in abundance and i would say would play best at.

          Giggs at 37 is able to get from box to box who is to say that Carrick couldn’t do it for another 2 years? It is not a priority at this point a box to box midfielder we have another year or 2 before Carricks legs are completely gone.

          One of the better options for the box to box midfielder would be Ganso? He would still add the creativity but as a 22 year old he would get from box to box with ease and do it all game?

          1. I agree with you completely, but just FYI, Ganso is also an attacking midfielder and he wouldn’t be a reliable option if we were looking for a box-to-box player.

  2. We have Kagawa in the hole with Rooney, Young, Nani, and Cleverly also capable of playing there, SAF likes orthodox wingers and Lucas is the opposite of that.

    Signing a 19 year old unproven Foreign player for 30m£ is something that will never happen.

    Lucas Moura is an incredibly gifted player, but he does not belong in English Football.

    I think a defensive / Box-to-Box midfielder would end our shopping spree this summer.

    1. Completely disagree with this statement just to say that Fergie is looking for orthodox wingers is all wrong and you didn’t read the article correctly. It was all about if they were to buy Lucas Moura were they would play him its about the formation and his great skill. Weather he is proven or not that doesn’t matter Ronaldo wasn’t proven in a more physically demanding league and he ended up ruling the roost in the Premier League for a number of years.

      And people talking about box-to-box midfielders the game has evolved a lot since we had the likes of Roy Keane where he was needed to get from box to box. Lesser teams don’t have that quick attacking drive so this would only be needed in the bigger games with teams like Barcelona or Man Shitty, we have Carrick that can do that also Fletcher if he was to return to football sooner rather than later.

      All in all if Man United were to sign Lucas Moura for 30million i would be a happy United fan cause the same as a lot of young players currently on the team have raw talent and can take us back to the top of the Premier League and back to the top of Europe were we belong.

      1. If we had 30m£ for Lucas Moura why not buy a proven world class winger with it?

        And buying a 12m£ player that has excelled against my own team is not comparable to buying a 30m£ unproven player from a different continent and different football style.

        And sadly after SAF’s latest quotes regarding Fletch, I don’t think he will ever return to his form. And Carrick at 30 is surely not capable of doing a job as an energetic box-to-box midfielder.

        And Yaya Toure ( box-to-box midfielder ) has shown how important a player with limitless energy and both superior defensive and offensive attributes is important to a team in modern football.

        We just can’t get YaYa , so why not get a similar type of player albeit younger and cheaper to do his job but at MUFC?

        1. Again you don’t seem to understand that Lucas Moura is not a winger (Right attacking midfielder is his position) he prefers the central position and were we as United lack in abundance and i would say would play best at.

          Giggs at 37 is able to get from box to box who is to say that Carrick couldn’t do it for another 2 years? It is not a priority at this point a box to box midfielder we have another year or 2 before Carricks legs are completely gone.

          One of the better options for the box to box midfielder would be Ganso? He would still add the creativity but as a 22 year old he would get from box to box with ease and do it all game?

          1. I agree with you completely, but just FYI, Ganso is also an attacking midfielder and he wouldn’t be a reliable option if we were looking for a box-to-box player.

  3. 30 million is rediculous for an unproven player, he seems to have a very walcott-esque first touch aswell (although lightning fast and some sick skills), from what iv seen of him he would make Nani look like mr consistant. Plenty of talented attackers already, I would rather blow our load on a central midfielder.

  4. 30 million is rediculous for an unproven player, he seems to have a very walcott-esque first touch aswell (although lightning fast and some sick skills), from what iv seen of him he would make Nani look like mr consistant. Plenty of talented attackers already, I would rather blow our load on a central midfielder.

Comments are closed