Why United’s Lucas Silva pursuit should worry Red Devils fans

Manchester United appear to be approaching panic buy territory after reportedly launching a bid for Cruzeiro midfielder Lucas Silva.

The 21-year-old has earned rave reviews for his performances in the Brazilian top flight and attracted interest from a host of top European clubs.

Barcelona were first on the scene but have cooled on the move in recent weeks but Atletico Madrid, Tottenham and Chelsea look set to rival United for the playmaker’s signature.

With such illustrious clubs taking an interest in the youngster he clearly has a lot of potential, but is that what Manchester United need in midfield?

Ander Herrera is only 24 and shows signs of becoming a top Premier League talent, while the skill of Adnan Januzaj is there for all to see.

Jesse Lingard made it into the starting XI for United’s doomed season opener with Swansea and there is still hope surrounding Nick Powell’s long-term prospects.

Silva is no doubt a talented individual having helped Cruzeiro – the club that launched the career of Ronaldo – to the Brazilian title last year but with United all ready having plenty of ‘prospects’ on the books the need now is for proven talent.

Reports that both Thomas Mueller and Marco Reus have turned down obscene amounts of money to join Louis van Gaal’s red revolution will also be a cause for concern.

The protracted deal to bring Marcos Rojo to United appears to have been concluded but with Luke Shaw already bought the wisdom of spending over £40m on two left backs when the squad is short of quality centre halves is questionable.

The pursuit of midfield talent is exactly what United should be doing but a target like Silva only serves to see the hopes of Arturo Vidal, Angel Di Maria or anyone else playing at the top of their game come through the doors dwindle.

Rio Ferdinand has told punters to put their faith in United, saying the Red Devils can still win the title, but if Lucas Silva is the only other name to arrive this summer those claims will look as laughable as Ed Woodward’s transfer reputation.

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