Arturo Vidal is a man of many nicknames, and they tell you all you need to know about the man lined up by Louis van Gaal as Manchester Uniteds No.1 transfer target this summer. Some need no explaining, such as King Artur, or The Warrior - first El Guerrero in Chile before it was adopted, and adapted, to Il Gurriero in Turin. And then theres Celia Punk - a fusion of Celia Cruz, his favourite singer, herself dubbed The Queen of Salsa - and punk because of his elaborate hairstyles. But the latter could just as easily describe his style of play. He is perhaps the ultimate box-to-box midfielder in world football, combining vision, creativity and his fair share of goals with fierce tackling, awe-inspiring work-rate and aggression. He is both beauty and beast. And he knows it: There are a lot of players out there in my position who try to play just like me and want to copy my style of play, he said in January. But its quite clear for me that Im the best in my role. Nobody puts in as much defensive work as I do and then scores a lot of goals on top of it as well. I am the best player in the world in my position. Thats simply the way it is for me. It would be wrong to say Manchester United have been crying out for this kind of force of nature since Roy Keane left the club in 2005, given their extended success over the last nine years thanks to Sir Alex Ferguson, his variety of formations, tactics and star names, but they have certainly never replaced the no-nonsense midfielder like-for-like. Now, with last seasons batch of midfielders either vastly underwhelming or about to be sold, Vidal has been identified as the man to come in and shake things up. Seasonal Stats Arturo VidalChoose Another Player General Defence Distribution Attack Discipline 32 Games Played 2441 Minutes Played 28 Starts 10 Sub Off Ander Herrera has already been brought in for £28 million, but with Van Gaal set to play three in the middle, whether in a 4-3-3 or even a 3-5-2, players like Tom Cleverley, Marouane Fellaini and Anderson just will not do. Vidal will do, and then some. The Chilean made 130 tackles in Serie A last season, the third highest in the league, and one every 19 minutes. That number wouldve been enough for second place in the Premier League and Ligue 1, he wouldve been top by 11 tackles in the Bundesliga, and fourth in La Liga (a whopping 37 behind Espanyols Victor Sanchez). But what sets him apart from specialist defensive midfielders like Sanchez is his desire to follow the play once he has won the ball, charging into the opponents area and getting himself into dangerous positions. He scored 18 goals for Juve last term, setting up five more, and in Serie A he ranked 11th with a shot conversion rate of 23 per cent (of those who scored more than 10 goals). That would have been enough for first place in the whole of Ligue 1. In terms of central midfielders, nobody got near his 23% in Italy, Spain, or Germany. In England, only Steven Gerrard (who scored 10 penalties) and Yaya Toure (a set-piece specialist) ranked higher. To provide a specific example, the Chilean also offers more than Toni Kroos, one of the stand-out midfielders of the last 12 months and a player coveted by United before his move to Real Madrid. For Bayern Munich last season, Kroos created 26 fewer chances from open play than Vidal, made 76 fewer tackles, 23 fewer interceptions, scored nine fewer goals, had a worse shot accuracy and a shot conversion rate of just 5.56% to Vidals 23%. Domestic stats from the 2013-14 season Needless to say, Vidals numbers dwarf most at Old Trafford, too. He created 44 chances from open play alone in Serie A last season, one every 55 minutes. At United, Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra were joint top with 38. Michael Carrick did his best from midfield with 28, but Cleverley (9), Fellaini (4), and Anderson (4) hardly flourished. He also leads his potential team-mates in numerous other areas. His tackle count of 130 was 51 higher than Evra, Uniteds best, his shot conversion rate nearly twice Cleverleys 12.5%, his 48 shots bettered only by Rooneys 81. But more than the stats, as illustrative as they are, Vidal has offered something unquantifiable to Juventus since joining in 2011; he has become the heartbeat of a team which has won three consecutive titles, each more impressive than the last. He sets the tone with his all-action displays and provides the type of energy and tenacity which coach Antonio Conte brought to the table during his own playing career. He pops up everywhere, doing everything. Heatmap Direction of play ACTION MAN | A typical Vidal performance, taken from Februarys 3-1 win over Inter Conte always recognised the value of the Chilean, as well as France midfielder and fellow transfer target Paul Pogba, and insisted to his board that the two should be retained at all costs as he looked to strengthen his champions year on year. Conte, of course, left his role at the start of last week, and while it is clearly something he considered for a long time, the prospect of losing one or both of Vidal and Pogba likely played some part in his decision. Juve, it seems, are ready to cash in on Vidal, Van Gaal has long been a fan, and United are, supposedly, flush with cash. If the Red Devils are as serious as their chief executive makes out, they will exploit the situation and do what they have done only fleetingly in their history: bring in a truly world-class player at the peak of his powers. Whatever they call him, United need one man this summer: Arturo Vidal. WilliamHill WILLIAM HILL: £25 IN FREE BETS RELATED Premier League, Serie A, Manchester United, Juventus, Arturo Vidal by TaboolaSponsored ContentFrom the Web 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Soccer Star Samuel … AFK Insider Say Goodbye To Snoring With This Cool Trick LifeGooroo 5 Simple Tricks That Will Help You Get Any Woman TheDudes.Club 10 Popular Celebrities Who Have the Heart of Gold Amerikanki The greatest Manchester United XI from the Alex Fer… World Observer 7 Exercises That Will Transform Your Body Womanitely LOGIN COMMENTS POST 41 CommentsRSS|Subscribe MUFC_LVG3 hours ago If we get Vidal itd be great but Im not going to trust Goal on this matter. Ill wait for Sky, BBC or someone reliable to confirm a deal is close. REPLY 0 UDEALOR CHIBUIKE4 hours ago Vidal is too good&will be a good addition to manchester United REPLY +3 ANONYMOUS4 hours ago I love those italian football fans who think that their league is the best and everyone loves playing in their league. Please accept that the time of italian football is over, nobody wants to play in this league and only thing which is better about italy than playing in the uk is that italy is one of the most beautiful countries (in my opinion) but thats all italy can offer - poor football, low wages, nearly no chances to win a trophy in europe and no spectators a player like vidal deserves to play in front of one of the best crowds in europe and also deserves to play in the best league in europe, ok united wont play in the UCL this year but everyone knows that united will be back in the 15/16 season and than they have still more chances to win the UCL than juve, even your old manager thinks that juve is not going to win the ucl in the next years so please accept it, so beautiful your country is, so bad is your league and football REPLY +3 ROMARKEL LISHAN5 hours ago We need to sign Vidal. He is the best box to box midfielder in the world and he also is very versatile REPLY +1 ANONYMOUS7 hours ago holy goal REPLY 0 ANDY8 hours ago the funny thing is the only news your gonna hear about vidal going to man utd is only in goal i havent heard in any other global news its this a ploy to get deluded man utd fans soo excited REPLY -3 LOSO DETE10 hours ago hahah English media are getting to desperate to bring Vidal in EPL REPLY +3 ALEX DELPIERO11 hours ago he has no reason to leave aside from a better pay, there really is no other reason for vidal to leave but then again money talks.. REPLY 9 replies +3 ANONYMOUS7 hours ago He has more chances to win the UCL with United than with Juve even Conte said that Juve is not going to win the UCL and thats another reason why he leaved Playing in the Serie A is also Sh*t - it is a old league with nearly no spectators REPLY 7 replies -1 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO6 hours ago how to win the champions if you do not play ...... REPLY 3 replies 0 ANONYMOUS5 hours ago i dont mean this year a mean the next 10 years REPLY 2 replies 0 ANDY4 hours ago so you mean man utd will never win ucl REPLY 1 reply -2 ANONYMOUS4 hours ago hahahaha ok dream on - you are the next dreamer who thinks that juve is a top adress and the serie a is so good and juve will win the ucl and they are playing for european titles - just because of one bad season, i think you are just a hater who loves to see united on the ground but when they are back you go back to mummy +1 SAMMYBOY05836 hours ago Is that right Anonymous! Why dont you use your name you coward! Still a country with better footballing pedigree than England! Fact! REPLY 0 ANDY4 hours ago man utd will play park the bus why would vidal go to a team that plays boring park the bus route 1 longball football REPLY 1 reply -2 ANONYMOUS4 hours ago so you are LVG and you know how united will play next season - united will always be much more attractive than all italian teams together REPLY 0 MTDIZZAI2 hours ago Playing in front of a packed stadium instead of 10k empty seats? REPLY +2 WAYNE MOONEY11 hours ago If United get Vidal,then he can match Yaya Toure of City,Gerrard of Liverpool REPLY 4 replies +4 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO11 hours ago the liverpool and interested in vidal .. after the sale of suarez .. and is willing to put on the plate 75 mln .. REPLY 3 replies -7 ANONYMOUS8 hours ago Vidal to Liverpool?? Never going to happen REPLY 2 replies +4 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO8 hours ago Who told you the player is in the juve juve ... and decide ... REPLY 0 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO8 hours ago and juve who decides .... REPLY 0 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO12 hours ago make news and dossiers on vidal even if it is your REPLY -2 SOMNATH BANERJEE12 hours ago You really should be writing such articles once ManUtd are able to buy Vidal ... currently the higher probability is of them being knocked back ... then all this writing is a waste of time and space REPLY 2 replies -1 JOHN TERRY12 hours ago dont read it then! REPLY +1 ANONYMOUS7 hours ago These articles are meant for some deluded Man Utd fans REPLY +1 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO12 hours ago remember that manchester has not taken vidal REPLY -2 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO12 hours ago the final decision is always vidal ....... if he wants to stay at Juve lose only time REPLY -2 TONYE ALAMENE12 hours ago True Talk True Talk! And alson Carvalho but he should be loaned back to Porto for 2 seasons. REPLY -5 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO12 hours ago the manchester can also give a big salary vidal but if you do not get the money does not go to juve nothing the same ... the Chilean and linked to juve for 5 years REPLY -1 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO12 hours ago VIDAL IS TO JUVENTUS Man United ........ IF THE OFFER 43 MILLION ............ Vidal to have cost 75 million ......... 60 mn + nani vidal is in England if not ......... REPLY 3 replies -4 JAMIE GORMLEY12 hours ago dont talk daft. fool REPLY 2 replies +5 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO12 hours ago stupid its you .. REPLY -5 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO12 hours ago if you want vidal dropped the grain beggars REPLY -5 MANUNITEDGUY12 hours ago Yes we need Vidal. Now go get him Ed! Offer him as much as RVP, the man deserves it. Bring in the quality. REPLY 3 replies +4 KEVIN STEINBACH8 hours ago You going to offer him champions league football this year too? REPLY 2 replies -1 ANONYMOUS7 hours ago Why playing in the UCL for Juve when they never have the chance to win it - i would rather play in the best league the EPL than playing in the shi**y Serie A REPLY 1 reply 0 RICCARDO CICIRIELLO6 hours ago anyone who tells you these lies juve and much stronger than manchester ... REPLY 0 AKASH KRISHNA12 hours ago Therell be an article detailing why they dont need him when they dont get him. Just look at the Khedira articles for proof REPLY 2 replies -1 JOHN TERRY12 hours ago please share links to articles explaining why khedira was needed at arsenal and why he is not needed now. REPLY 1 reply 0 AKASH KRISHNA11 hours ago look it up mate REPLY +1
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 19:49:23 +0000
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