Park Ji Sung and Jonny Evans are expected to commit their long-term futures to Manchester United in the coming weeks as the English, European and world champions continue to plan for life after Sir Alex Ferguson.
He may be in the twilight of his career at Old Trafford, but Ferguson, the United manager, has sought over the past 18 months to ensure that his successor inherits an enviable blend of youth and experience by tying the vast majority of his squad to long and lucrative new contracts.
The futures of only a handful of players have still to be resolved, but that should change soon, with Park, the midfield player, and Evans, the defender, likely to have agreed new four and five-year deals respectively before the end of next month. Ryan Giggs, 35, and Gary Neville, who will be 34 next Wednesday, are also expected to sign new contracts that will tie them to the club until the end of next season.
Park, 27, expressed concerns in December about his long-term prospects at Old Trafford as United allowed him to enter the final 18 months of his contract with no new deal on the table, but Ferguson has made it clear that the South Korea player, who has started 14 of United’s 24 Barclays Premier League games this season, will remain an integral member of his squad.
Evans’s future was also the subject of some debate last year, when the defender found his route to the first team routinely blocked by Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, but Ferguson’s decision to reject a £10 million offer from Sunderland for the 21-year-old last summer has been vindicated by some exceptional performances this season in the absence of his first-choice centre half pairing. Evans was particularly impressive in the two league matches against Chelsea.
The wages of the Northern Ireland defender, who earns about £8,000 a week, will quintuple to some £40,000 a week under the terms of a new deal, which is likely to include clauses for incremental rises depending on the player’s and club’s success.
United’s long-term planning and investment in youth and experience contrasts starkly with the events at Chelsea, whose ageing squad is in need of a significant overhaul.
The only real doubts at Old Trafford surround the futures of Ben Foster, the goalkeeper who is out of contract in June, and Carlos Tevez, whose two-year loan expires at the end of the season, while United have become accustomed to fielding questions about Cristiano Ronaldo’s situation in the face of unwavering interest in the Portugal forward from Real Madrid for the past two years.
Neither Ronaldo’s nor Tevez’s situation is likely to be dealt with until the summer, but Foster will hope to have his resolved before then, with United giving the England goalkeeper every chance to prove his fitness after a succession of injuries that have interrupted a promising career at Old Trafford.
Foster is expected to win a new contract, with Ferguson having indicated that he expects the 25-year-old to stake a proper claim for the No 1 jersey next season along with Tomasz Kuszczak, who is tied to the club until June 2012.
As far as the present is concerned, Mike Phelan, the United assistant manager, believes that Aston Villa should not be discounted as potential title challengers.
Liverpool are widely viewed as United’s only credible rivals for the Premier League, but Phelan thinks that Villa, who are third, five points adrift of United, the leaders, could still upset the apple cart.
“As well as there are other teams who could throw a spanner in the works along the way — Aston Villa are having a fantastic time at the moment,” Phelan said.
“This season is interesting because teams from outside the top four are taking points from everybody, so it’s not as clear-cut as it is when two teams run away with it. Between now and the end of the season there’ll be some surprises, and they can come from any team in the league.”
첫댓글 2년정도할줄 알았는데 ..
이제 골만 3골정도 넣자 !! 빠샵
호오... 지성이 횽 지금 나이가 28살 인데 4년이면.. 캬 맨유에서 끝을 보는구나 저기서 플레잉 코치 까지 하다가 지도자 수업받고 맨유 감독 하면 좋겠네
헉 무려 4년... 짱이다
우왕 4년 ㅎㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ
이번주내로 재계약을 마무리 한다는 얘기인것 같군...ㅋㅋ
전 솔직히 박지성 딴데가서 주전으로 활약했으면 좋겠습니다...챔스 제외 충격...
박지성 챔스명단30인에 든걸로아는데..;;
결승전 얘기 하시는듯.
언제까지 결승전 물고 늘어질지..
물고 늘어지는게 아니고 그만큼 충격적인 결정이었고 박지성선수 팬으로써 안타까웠다는거죠;;
은퇴할때까지 이야기 나와도 될만한 충격이었죠
언제까지그얘기가아니라 결승전에못나온건 약간 의문스러웠죠
정말 바르샤 잡은데 한몫한 지성팍인데...후보에도 없었다는건 충격이였죠...아무리 해명한다고해도 지성팍의 활약에 비교한다면 아쉽다고 하지 않을수가 없네요..이겨서 그나마 당행이지만 졌으면...파장은 좀더 컸을꺼 같다는 생각이...