The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsAfter having a previous bid of £20 million rejected, Manchester United have finally completed the signing of French international Morgan Schneiderlin for a fee of around £24m.
The 25-year-old midfielder played a pivotal part in Southampton’s extraordinary 2014/15 season – helping them to a Europa League finish; and it’s his superb passing accuracy and tackles per game that have caught the eye of English giants Manchester United, as Louis van Gaal looks to re-shape his squad.
Schneiderlin comes as United’s second recent big money signing, after Memphis Depay arrived from PSV Eindhoven, and he will have to face competition from the likes of World Cup winning midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. However with the likes of Michael Carrick, now 33, past the prime of his career and other midfielders out of form, Schneiderlin could attain a first team starting position regularly.
Schneiderlin also counts as a home grown player, since Southampton signed him for £1.2m when he was just 18 years old – adding to the other home grown players United now have such as Phil Jones and Chris Smalling.
The dominant midfielder will join United in time for pre-season. After signing he told ManUtd.com “I am delighted to be a Manchester United player. Once I learned that United were interested in me, it was a very easy decision to make.
Manchester United’s midfield now looks to be a force to be reckoned with next season with the likes of: Memphis Depay, Angel Di Maria, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin and Juan Mata all at United’s disposal.
However, United do have a history of signing players for big money who prove to be uninfluential in their first season such as Marouane Fellaini who cost them around £27.5m; Schneiderlin will hope to not follow suit.
