Rumour mill: Reds eye Pedersen

April 17, 2007

Morten Gamst Pedersen challenges Cristiano Ronaldo

UNITED are preparing an £8m summer swoop for Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen, according to a report.

Ryan Giggs is nearing the end of his glittering career at the age of 33 and Kieran Richardson is struggling to stamp his authority on a left-sided role, so boss Sir Alex Ferguson is looking to strengthen that position.

Pedersen signed a four-year deal at Ewood Park last season but his contract contains an £8m release clause, according to the Daily Mirror.

Meanwhile, The Sun report that United are keeping an eye on Franck Ribery after Marseille indicated they are prepared to sell the midfielder.

Would you like to see Pedersen at United? Have your say.

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Paulo (17/04/2007 at 10:05)

finally some viable transfer news. I'd love to see him at United.

Utd-For-Life, marseille ex-stretford (17/04/2007 at 10:34)

i think we can do better than that. I would much prefer ribery, but he probably will end up at arsenal.

Giggs has got at least one more year left in him, so any new buy will have to fight him for a place. pederson probably won't be up for that fight. It'd be nice if ronnie had a younger brother. We can only dream...

Andy Bergen, Bergen, Norway (17/04/2007 at 10:35)

MGP would probably be value for money at 8 m, but I don't see him as truly world class.
Good at set pieces, decent shot, very good right foot for a LW (not sure if he's originally right-footer), good physique and workrate for a winger, and he's a Unitedfan from childhood. But his top level is not in the Giggs league. He's not that quick, not as good at dribbling, generally reminds me of a bigger and more experienced/consistent version of KR. My view may be influenced by his Beckham-wannabe behaviour (promotes hairwax in Norway, dates Miss Norway-finalists) and the fact that I've not forgiven his part in Rio's sending off at Ewook Park last season.

hewinkswiththeleft, Ireland (17/04/2007 at 10:37)

do it and do it quick!!!!!! would love to see it and esp at only 8m!!!

Demo, Glossop (17/04/2007 at 10:39)

im not sure. he has potential and good at set pieces but his play does lack somewhat. saying that united would be the place to improve his game and turn him into a gem!

Southern Red (17/04/2007 at 10:47)

He's a good player and impressed me last season against us. Looks a better and more consistent player than Ribbery.

The Norwegian can play on either side , so would be a great double act with Ronnie.

Anyone got views on which "Owen" they would prefer at OT next year? Personally, I'd take the overseas one.

edinburgh red, edinburgh (17/04/2007 at 10:48)

A utd fan who we could have got for about a million when the intrest in him first came about , mind you all our norweign fans were saying we should have bought haestand yet he couldn't hack it at wigan so I can understand why we didn't fork out the money at the time though if we had bought him and carrick at the time we would have saved about 2o million.

Robbo, North Stand (17/04/2007 at 11:14)

No, no, no, no, NO!! Slightly worrying trend in recent transfer speculation - Michael Owen, cheap buy-out clause...Morten Gamst Pedersen, cheap buy-out clause (ie no money for proper players!) MGP is an Ok player but well short of Utd quality. This reminds me of Italian footie journo Gabriel Marcotti bemoaning English football's dreadful fascination with cheap Scandanavian imports (as he rightly said, they're like British players but with even WORSE technique!). Ok, there are exceptions (Ole, Ole, Ole, O-le!!) but let's look to bring in something better to work with Roon and Ron.

chris, oxford (17/04/2007 at 11:14)

Not sure about this one at all, I don't believe Pedersen is consistent enough and while he normally does very well against us I have seen him be very ordinary against a lot of other clubs and think that we could definitely do better - Quarresma (however you spell it) for one.

Mick, Dublin (17/04/2007 at 11:34)

I don't rate Pedersen at all. He seems to turn it on against United (he's not the first player to excel playing against the club they supported as a child) but in the vast majority of Blackburn games I've watched he's been fairly anonymous. At the weekend, if it wasn't for missing two sitters and a few free-kicks I wouldn't even have noticed he was on the pitch. He's not United quality.

I also don't like Ribery. He seems like a difficult customer and has already pledged his allegiance to Arsenal. My main memory of him from the WC is playing a central role in all of France's worst performances. So that's another "no" from me.

If we get a winger this summer then, IMO, it's a no-brainer that we should snap up either Nani or Quaresma. Ronnie will be able to help them settle in (with the added benefit that it will help him feel more settled too). We've already seen the impact that one of Portugal's youth World Cup winning "golden generation" can have in the Prem, imagine having two of them, playing down opposite flanks?!?

Mick, Dublin (17/04/2007 at 11:35)

As for Michael Owen, does anyone seriously think we need another injury-prone striker in our squad?

ged (17/04/2007 at 11:38)

Daniel Alves, Sevilla, is a player i wwould love at OT. Unfortunately it's looking like Barcelona will beat us to him.

Birdy, Ireland (17/04/2007 at 11:42)

I'd be very much in the unsure camp on this one. Like most i've been impressed with some of the goals he's scored, particularly against us, but i dont think he's played that well consistently, and i would have doubts that he'd be good enough. In a straight choice i'd take Ribery, however its not going to be that simple. SAF does like players who do well against us so this transfer is probably a realistic possibility, i just think we should aim a bit higher - he's good but i dont think he's world class

Demo, Glossop (17/04/2007 at 11:58)

ribery looks ok but dont like the fact he is an arsenal fan! for me it would definately be Quaresma - an ideal replacement and partner in crime with our own maderian magician that boy ronaldo makes beckham look .....

Steve, Glossop (17/04/2007 at 11:59)

Where have all the Norse lads gone who used to post don't be embarassed your PR for Haestad was dud. I'd like to think that the Portugese players are frst choices but like Robbo says where's the proof of the dosh especially given OH will cost an arm & a leg & surely a striker will be sought? We'll see eh!

chris, oxford (17/04/2007 at 12:01)

Absolutely not Mick, it's bad enough Saha missing so many games without somebody else keeping him company on the treatment table. Besides Owen isn't the player he was 5 years ago, he seems to have lost the pace that made him such a threat.

Reds4Ever, West Yorkshire (17/04/2007 at 12:18)

After that miss against the spivs, no thank you!!

Mick, Dublin (17/04/2007 at 12:37)

Good to see we can agree on at least something today, Chris! ;)

Birdy, Ireland (17/04/2007 at 12:37)

Mick i've seen a bit of Quaresma and he looks good, but people on here often put forward Nani as a signing. Now i watch as much football as the next man but i've seen nothing of this lad and i doubt many people, other than Portugese people, actually have. Is this signing recommended off the back of Youtube? I'm not saying he's no good, just wondering how he's come to be rated so highly by so many people on here

manc abroad, OT (17/04/2007 at 12:48)

Pay the extra 4 million and get Nanni. Only go for one Owen in the summer and that is Hargreaves. Cannot believe SAF will bid serious money for M. Owen when he has not played since his injury.

Summer requires a clearout of the nearly men, but I would like Foster, Evans and Rossi to stay on loan for one more season, rather than come back to keep the bench warm.

chris, oxford (17/04/2007 at 12:55)

You do occasionally make some sensible comments Mick! ;-)

Red Norse, Norway (17/04/2007 at 12:56)

Steve, they've run for cover :) I was one of those who'd prefer NOT to see Haestad at OT, you all know why now. The same goes for Pedersen, his abilities are not up to standards. Decent on set-pieces though. At the moment there are no Norwegians worth bringing to OT. Might be some talents worth checking out, but I'd rather check out the Swedes or Danes. In general they've got better skills than Norwegian players.

Macca, Cornwall (17/04/2007 at 12:56)

wouldnt go for pederson, especially not for £8m, especially when duff went to newcastle for £5m. quaresema yes is a good player but dont think we could afford to have him and ronaldo in the same team, as they are both similar in the way they dont like to defend! never seen nani play so cant comment there, but also dont think we should go for ribery, he is very similar to park. i would like to maybe see duff here, on form he is in the top 3 left wingers in the country and he hasnt really settled in at newcastle. apart from that - break the bank and buy aaron lennon, he would relish the chance to move back here and he can swap wings with ronaldo during the game. could get him for £15-20mill. wont happen tho if we sign hargs, we wont spend more than £30m this summer and prob never will again...

Steve (17/04/2007 at 13:08)

Gareth Bale at £10 is a much better long term bet down the left. If you watch him it is clear he could play as a winger particularly as Giggs understudy for a year or so.

chris, oxford (17/04/2007 at 13:18)

If we could sign one player who would everybodys choice be? For me it would be Kaka, I can dream! Agree that we could probably do with a striker, LW and CM - Fergie has obviously made his mind up over OH so like others I would also love us to go after Duff then Huntelaar, please no Bent or Defoe because they just aren't good enough IMO. Shame about Defoe because he did seem to have the talent when at West Ham but hasn't progressed so well but maybe that's due to the rotation policy at Spurs.

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