Ezequiel Garay To Zenit St Petersburg

[harry's chin]

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...-as-they-prepare-for-Jan-Vertonghen-departure


Tottenham eye Man Utd target Ezequiel Garay as they prepare for Jan Vertonghen departure

TOTTENHAM have begun preparing for the possibility of life without Jan Vertonghen and see Benfica's Ezequiel Garay as the perfect replacement for the Belgian.

Garay has been a long-standing target for Manchester United, and even had a deal in place to move to Old Trafford before Sir Alex Ferguson was replaced by David Moyes.

But after a move to Zenit Saint Petersburg fell through in January, the Argentine is almost certain to be back on the market in the summer and Spurs are interested in bringing Garay to White Hart Lane.
Vertonghen has indicated that he wants to play Champions League football next season, and with Spurs increasingly unlikely to be able to offer that, the 26-year-old could be reunited with Andre Villas-Boas - now in charge of Zenit.

Such a move would rule the Russian club out of the race for Garay and it was thought that United would once again emerge as favourites to sign the defender.
But reports in Portugal suggest that Tottenham hope to hijack United's interest to bring Garay to north London.

Indeed, Spurs had scouts present to watch Benfica triumph 4-0 over Rio Ave on Monday night.
Garay put in an impressive performance to keep a clean sheet, while Rodrigo, Nicolas Gaitan and Oscar Cardozo - all players linked with a move to England in recent times - all got on the scoresheet for Jorge Jesus' side.

 

[whitelanefever]

Brilliant defender, would love it if we signed him

 

[TheAmerican]

I've been waiting for us to be linked with one of the Benfica players. If I had my choice, as well, it would be Garay. We desperately need a top cb.

 

[Barry Mead]

I wanted us to sign him back when he was playing for Santander, I think he didn't really get a fair crack of the whip at Real and was a bit surprised that bigger clubs weren't in for him when he moved to benfica. He really is an excellent balance of classy and strong in his game, always plays with a smile on his face too, something you can't really say about Verts

 

[DaSpurs]

I've been waiting for us to be linked with one of the Benfica players. If I had my choice, as well, it would be Garay. We desperately need a top cb.

Benfica are loaded, but the problem as I'm sure you know is that they charge outlandish prices. I'd love to grab Garay, but I just can't see it happening.

 

[ButchCassidy]

According to transfermarkt, Garay's contract is up next June, so he may come at a reduced price - however there will almost certainly be a bidding war as he is quite the hot commodity atm...

 

[bceej]

Benfica are loaded, but the problem as I'm sure you know is that they charge outlandish prices. I'd love to grab Garay, but I just can't see it happening.

Saw somewhere that he had a 20 million euro buyout...

http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/...chance-of-signing-two-manchester-united-targe

Would be good to have another Argentine in for Lamela, too.

 

[TheAmerican]

Saw somewhere that he had a 20 million euro buyout...

http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/...chance-of-signing-two-manchester-united-targe

I'd be surprised if it's that low. Last summer it was reported that Salvio's buyout was £50m. I would guess that they all have incredibly large buyout fees.

 

[DaSpurs]

I'd be surprised if it's that low. Last summer it was reported that Salvio's buyout was £50m. I would guess that they all have incredibly large buyout fees.

Agreed. If it was that low, given how in-demand CB's are at the moment, there's no chance no one would've snapped him up by now. No doubt Man U wouldn't have pulled the trigger by now if that were the case.

 

[ShaunL84]

My thoughts:

 

[Sweech]

I wish.

Garay is one of my favourite CB's. Always liked the way he plays the game.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Their will be host of top clubs after him, I have no idea why he would choose to come to us. Great player but a little bit beyond us I would think.

 

[Barry Mead]

Their will be host of top clubs after him, I have no idea why he would choose to come to us. Great player but a little bit beyond us I would think.

Maybe, but top clubs have been linked with him for years, he was supposedly a done deal to Barca then all of a sudden he went to Real, then he was a done deal to United and ended up at Benfica. I don't know why because I think he is a quality player and a very good blend of skill, style and solidity, has got decent control and touch but doesn't try and be too clever in dangerous areas and yet he has been overlooked by many over the years as if they can't quite make their mind up

 

[Kraji]

Benfica is not loaded. In fact they have a huge debt. Just a look at Matic. Arguably, the best player of the team (and a fans favourite) with a buyout clause of 50M€ and sold in January for 20-25M€ because they needed to cash fast.

According to the portuguese press, Garay's buyout clause is 20M€ and has contract until 2015/06. In January he was very close to join Zenit so I don't think he is an unrealistic target.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Garay would be a solid addition. In my opinion, he's what we have been missing in that he's an absolute stalwart in defense. I love the idea of Chiriches and Garay as our starting CB duo next season. One offers more ability getting forward while the other is a no-nonsense defender who can get the job done against just about any type of attacking forward.

I don't see Vertonghen being around next season. So, if we can take some of that money from Vertonghen and put it into Garay, with a Chiriches coming back with some experience under his belt, we may just have a more well-rounded CB pair than what we currently can offer.

Furthermore, I feel as though bringing on a guy like Garay with a Ricardo Rodriguez could really transform our defense. Rodriguez has really developed as a defender and he will always be valuable in attack. He reminds me a lot of another stud LB in the Bundesliga in Daniel Alaba.

Bringing those two on, with Rodriguez forcing wide attackers to honor his ability in attack while overlapping hopefully a guy like Evgen Konoplyanka on the left could be incredibly dangerous. Garay sitting as the deepest CB is exactly what we could use in that you know he can fit that role.

 

[ButchCassidy]

Garay and Eric Dier would both be great additions to our back line if Vertonghen goes.

 

[WiganSpur]

Utd bound I reckon.

They need a few defenders.

 

[TheAmerican]

Garay would be a solid addition. In my opinion, he's what we have been missing in that he's an absolute stalwart in defense. I love the idea of Chiriches and Garay as our starting CB duo next season. One offers more ability getting forward while the other is a no-nonsense defender who can get the job done against just about any type of attacking forward.

I don't see Vertonghen being around next season. So, if we can take some of that money from Vertonghen and put it into Garay, with a Chiriches coming back with some experience under his belt, we may just have a more well-rounded CB pair than what we currently can offer.

Furthermore, I feel as though bringing on a guy like Garay with a Ricardo Rodriguez could really transform our defense. Rodriguez has really developed as a defender and he will always be valuable in attack. He reminds me a lot of another stud LB in the Bundesliga in Daniel Alaba.

Bringing those two on, with Rodriguez forcing wide attackers to honor his ability in attack while overlapping hopefully a guy like Evgen Konoplyanka on the left could be incredibly dangerous. Garay sitting as the deepest CB is exactly what we could use in that you know he can fit that role.

Just hope that Wolfsburg don't get Champions League, as he likely won't move if they do. They are currently 1 point outside of a place.

 

[double0]

Out of our league I reckon. Winston Reid ain't bad EPL experience too.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

After tonight's performance I'm sure Utd will be looking for a whole new back line come summer... Embarrassingly bad.