Manchester United to sign Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos

The Real Madrid defender is, in some ways, the antithesis of the players Ferguson sought towards the end of his tenure. He is undeniably talented but, at 29, is approaching the final stages of his career. If Ramos does come to Manchester, he will do so on the back of a pay dispute with his current employers.
The transfer, likely to take a fee north of £35million to pull off, would have set alarm bells ringing for Ferguson.
However, the current United — the one left by Ferguson, then passed rather unfortunately by David Moyes to Louis van Gaal — is in need of experienced players, those who can help the club make some forward steps very quickly, players bought for the here and now.

For the time being at least, words such as ‘potential’ and phrases like ‘resale value’ — judged to be so important at Old Trafford until recent times — have been set aside. United find themselves playing catch-up in the slipstream of clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea and this is why they have turned in part to expensive, experienced players.

Those who know Van Gaal are surprised he has authorised a bid of almost £30m for Ramos. The Madrid player is not necessarily a Van Gaal type in terms of character or technical ability.
Nevertheless, the United manager has identified clear failings at the centre of the defence and midfield.
These are fundamental areas and Van Gaal has decided he doesn’t have time to wait and see if Phil Jones will ever fulfil his potential, or if players like Paddy McNair or Tyler Blackett can make the step up from reserve-team level for the long term.