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Is Vidal the perfect midfielder for Man United?

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Newstalk
Newstalk

14.18 30 Jul 2014


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Is Vidal the perfect midfielde...

Is Vidal the perfect midfielder for Man United?

Newstalk
Newstalk

14.18 30 Jul 2014


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All stats are courtesy of statistics website Squawka. Learn more about Squawka and the free app by clicking here.

It's hard to know what to believe when it comes to transfer stories.

But there are indications that Manchester United's potential move for Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal might be back on.

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While there is plenty of divergence over the transfer fee, there can be little to quibble about when it comes to the ability of the player in question.

In many ways, the Chilean is a complete midfielder. Goals from midfield have been an issue for Man United in the last couple of seasons with Tom Cleverley, Michael Carrick and Marouane Felliani barely registering useful goal tallies. Indeed the England duo scored twice between them last term.

But that is not an issue for Vidal who has scored 21 Serie A goals for Juventus since August 2012, including 11 last season.

He has also created over 100 chances across the past two seasons, averaging 1.75 chances per match.  

His box-to-box qualities are also evident when it comes to his work in other areas.

Defensively, the 27-year-old ranked third in terms of the number of tackles made per match in Serie A last season. 

Vidal is also accustomed to systems where three at the back are used both at international level where Chile use a 3-3-1-3 formation and also at club level where ex-Juve boss Antonio Conte often used a 3-5-2.

With Man United manager Louis Van Gaal experimenting with that system during pre-season, the pursuit of Vidal makes a certain degree of sense.

In terms of him fitting in seamlessly, Vidal has played with a deep-lying playmaker in Pirlo and more box-to-box midfielders like Paul Pogba or Claudio Marchisio in recent seasons.

Van Gaal will then have the option of fielding the Chilean with a more withdrawn passer like Michael Carrick or just behind the likes of a more advanced playmaker Ander Herrera.

Either way, Vidal has shown the intelligence and adaptability to dovetail with many types of midfielders with success.  


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