Smith in 'boro talks

Trevor Baxter

June 25, 2007

SMITH: Heading for Middlesbrough

UNITED striker Alan Smith could have played his final game for the club after reports Middlesbrough have secured a £6.5m move for the England international.

Smith still has two years left on his Reds contract but the exLeeds favourite wants regular first-team action after forcing his way back into Steve McClaren's squad.

Newcastle's Ex-Bolton boss Sam Allardyce was thought to be the front-runner for Smith's signature.

However, Middlesbrough appear to have jumped to the front of the queue though nothing will be finalised until the 26-year-old Old Trafford favourite returns from holiday.

Agent Alex Black told MEN Sport today: "There is a lot of stuff going about at the moment.

"But nothing is going to be done until Alan comes back from his break.

"I read various reports over the weekend that he was supposed to be going to Newcastle, Portsmouth and Sunderland as well. So, we'll have to wait and see."

Smith is contracted until 2009 but was disappointed when a clause to keep him at the club for an additional season wasn't triggered.

If Sir Alex Ferguson does allow the proud Yorkshireman to leave, it will increase his need for a new striker.

What do you think? Have your say.

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Hilton (25/06/2007 at 11:44)

With or without Smith, we need another striker anyway. Last season we ended up playing without a striker. If Saha was fit we would have won the FA Cup.
Ask John Terry or better still ask MOURINHO.

Smith must go. I think Smith will do very well at Boro. He will team up with his old mate Woodgate there. And I wish him well.

Birdy, Ireland (25/06/2007 at 12:01)

Agree Hilton, i'd wish him well, and i think he'd eb a good signing for Boro or Newcastle. I think we need a new striker as things stand, so if we were to sell Smith the obvious conclusion is we'd need 2 strikers in, which isnt going to happen. If Saha was a player with a normal fitness record then 1 striker to replace Smith would be enough, but its risky relying on him and his brittle body.

Here's a scenario. Sell Smith for 6.5m. Sell KR for 2.5m - total 9m. Buy Owen for his 9m release. Buy Huuntelaar for 12m. That would leave us covered for strikers for years for only 12m, we'd be well covered everywhere then exept right back.

Robbo, North Stand (25/06/2007 at 12:02)

At last! Not counting my chickens 'til it's done and dusted.

Steve, Glossop (25/06/2007 at 12:10)

It cant have been easy signing for United after publically stating he hated the club. Welcome news bye!

Hangey, Luxury Hill !! (25/06/2007 at 12:11)

Bye Bye Smuger! Always had the courage & determinatin but lacked Unites Flair! His Goal against the Canaries together with Roma game probably his best shows in a red shirt! This will give us a good chance to buy a compele striker like Berbatov!!

Mike (25/06/2007 at 12:12)

Brigitte must stay!

Jaco, South Africa (25/06/2007 at 12:13)

Selling Smith and getting in Gudjohnsen would not improve our team. Irrespective of if we sell Smith, we need a top class goalscorer to come in.
I would much rather we keep Smith as a squad player, get rid of sick note Saha and get a player of the likes of Benni McCarthy, Berbatov, Torres, Villa or Anelka.

Ryan Ould (25/06/2007 at 12:20)

Smith should go to Newcastle if he is to leave. However the main question that needs answering is who is coming in, a front line of Rooney, Saha (when fit), Rossi, Dong and Ole isn't the strongest for a club challenging on all four fronts next year!

Robbo, North Stand (25/06/2007 at 12:20)

"GANGLY Scottish person Darren Fletcher could have played his final game for the club after reports Cowdenbeath..." Now that's the story I'd really like to see!

Alf For The Devils, Ipswich (25/06/2007 at 12:31)

I will very happy when the deal will be confirmed by both parties.
For people who wants to compare Saha to Smith, you only have to look at the number of goals Saha scored since he has been a MU player compare to those scored by Smith(not a lot).
Sell Smith, Richardson and one of Sylvestre or Heinze. I trust the manager to decide who is the perfect signing to boost the striking options although i can already suggest a couple of names(Diego Milito or Benny McCarty)

Peter Ogden, London (25/06/2007 at 12:40)

Credit to Smith, he gives all he's got, but I am afraid he just isn't good enough for MU and I don't know why we bought him in the first place. Gudjohnson is useful but not world class, neither is he of the right age. Quagliarelia is just angling for more money -why should we buy a young italian who's scored a few goals when we already have a younger Italian in Rossie who's strike rate per game is higher. My only fear about Rossie is that at 5 ft 8 inches he will always be deficient in the box but we will see. Personally, I don't think we will buy again this season and in anycase Ronaldo could be cf with Nani and Anderson on the wings.

khaled mahmood, bangladesh (25/06/2007 at 12:58)

GOT TO GO. I for one cannot wait to see the back of him. My goat is more of a goal threat. 18 games last season, 1 goal. Says it all about Smith. If you got 3 points for trying, he'd be the best forward in the prem. The truth is he lacks the 2 things which get the better of centre halves, quality and/or pace. He doesnt look like he's going to score, EVER. Look at the menace of Rooney, Saha and Ronnie when they're on or near the ball, you expect goals at any minute. Sadly the same is not true of Smith. He may be a Middlesbro player, he is NEVER a United player. Go and "TRY" somewhere else Alan, you cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Van Nistelrooy, a true quality forward, with a record that proves it.

The Right to Reply (25/06/2007 at 13:05)

Dont let him go, he needs another season to give him a fair crack of the whip, he wants to stay, most reds want him to stay, he got a lot of stick coming over from leeds, a bad injury, played out of position etc, and was sub in most games coming on late in games to make an impact. We need the depth and his style of player at United, there are a lot of other players at United that can go 1st. We have bought 2 players with the money from winning the Prem, lets see a great squadin depth, and another suped striker added with the rest of thye money we all pay into the club! Sort it Fergie before we miss the boat again on major names.

SIMON., DERRY, N. IRELAND. (25/06/2007 at 13:37)

You can give Smith another 100 seasons at United but the end conclusion will always be the same, NOT UNITED QUALITY!!! Sorry to be so hard on him but the fact is he's just not good enough for United. If we can recoupe almost all the money we paid for him from Leeds then I'd say that's a great piece of business. He'd never be 1st choice and he doesn't have that "Goal Threat" we'd want coming off the bench. Sorry Smudger but it's for the greater good of United that you go. Support the Team and Live the Dream.....

casandra, Derby (25/06/2007 at 13:45)

I think the best smithy could expect is to be a squad player, I don't think he would leave us by choice but accepts he is not an automatic choice and desires fist team football which he is not going to get here, I love smithy but to be honest he his not good enough for our first team and at 26 it is time to chose whether to spend large periods on the bench or move on to a club that will give him automatic team selection.

Andy P, Wythenshawe, Manchester (25/06/2007 at 13:56)

I would like Smith to stay as a squad player at least. He deserves another season. However, it looks like he wants first team football and he may not get it at United.
Fergie may be thinking that he can play a number of players up front, we still have Saha, get Rossi back, we can also play Giggs, Ronaldo, Scholes, Anderson maybe even Nani off Rooney when Saha is injured yet again.
Also, RVN was a legend at United but sometimes when you have a main striker, you tend to rely on that main striker for the source of most of your goals. Look at last season no RVN and goals were coming from everywhere.
Maybe Fergie does not consider he needs a main striker as we have so many attacking options to spread the goals around.
Sven for City, they are both desperate and deserve each other.
PS. Where's Shanny from Hyde? Sven for City ha ha

Roy (25/06/2007 at 14:09)

A good move for both parties - Smithy will be a better player with regular play but that won't happen at Man U. And a 6m fee is better than the 3.5m that was floated last week. Also Smithy is on 60 to 70k a week if reports when he joined held any truth. That's a lot of wonga: 3.5m a year. Meanwhile Im still waiting for Sir Alex and Rossi to talk and to hear that Rossi will be given a chance this season. Rossi will only go up in value even if the worse happens and it doesnt work out at Man U. If Smith is 6m, Rossi will be 10m, and it wont just be English teams that are interested. I'd love Rossi to be a hit - who was the last top striker United discovered and didn't just buy?

chris spence, Altrincham (25/06/2007 at 14:12)

If he does end up going to another team I hope it's one going places and he gets a good pay day. For me he did nothing wrong and always gave a 110% for us. I sure it's hard to move to a club you see and who see you as the enemy but he did. I wish him all the very best.

bobbydazzler (25/06/2007 at 14:15)

simon unusually i find myself in agreement with you for once.

Mike (25/06/2007 at 14:24)

I believe that Corradi is available at a price a debt ridden club like manyooyoo may just about be able to afford.

Stanley Kong (25/06/2007 at 14:29)

I would say: sell saha and keep both smith and rossi. Come on, what has saha done other than receiving his weekly salaries on the sidelines since his fulham transfer? he is NO nistelrooy and certainly not the 110 % smith.

sell saha to lyon or whoever wants him, then get someone from northern europe who adapts better to english football than italians or spaniards. Someone like huntelaar would be my no 1 choice!

SIMON., DERRY, N. IRELAND. (25/06/2007 at 14:39)

bobbydazzler - Cheers mate. Yes we don't agree on certain things in here but we both have different view points on that and I doubt either of us will convince the other to change their views. And just for the record I've always enjoyed your team related posts!! Support the Team and Live the Dream.....

Sterling, Salford (25/06/2007 at 15:04)

Stanley Kong - Saha was an instrumental figure in helping us win the title last season. He was our key goal threat in the early games - while Rooney was suspended / off form and while Ronaldo was still warming up. Without him, we may not have got in front of Chelsea in the first place. It's also worth pointing out that Saha's longer term legacy may be that he was a key catalsyt to the creation of this new team and system, since it's from the moment Ruud was dropped for the Carling Cup Final that a change set in - a realisation by SAF that we would no longer rely on one super-striker and a shift back to more open, pacy, attacking football with goals coming from all over the place. It's a style that the majority of fans prefer to see. I agree that he has spent far too much time on the treatment table but I hope that a summer of rest and a good pre-season will see him fighting fit for the new campaign. A fit, on form Saha is about as good a striker as you'll see, especially when he blends into and aids the skills of the superkids around him (Rooney, Ronaldo and hopefully Nani, Anderson).

Jo (25/06/2007 at 15:19)

Sell Smith. Forget Solksjaer.
Give Rossi and Dong a chance to play. May be they will become as important as Evra and Vidic.

Mike (25/06/2007 at 16:12)

Corradi for manyooyoo!

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