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A twin goodbye?

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailAhead of the January transfer window, David Moyes had admitted that he was determined to shake-up his squad, by offloading players who were at margins of the first team squad, but even the Manchester United manager would have been surprised to read the comments regarding Rafael and Fabio’s future.

Cassiano Pereira, the twins’ agent,insisted that both players are likely to leave Old Trafford at the end of the season, which would come as a huge surprise for United, Moyes and the fans, given the unexpected nature of the rumour, its timing and the source it arrived from.

While Fabio’s departure would make some sense, given that the left-back has found it hard to break into the starting XI after returning from a loan spell at QPR and is poised to join Cardiff on loan this month, allowing Rafael to leave would be one of the daftest decisions United could make.

The right-back has established himself as one of the crucial players in United’s starting XI and his development under Fergie was nothing short of spectacular, for he went from being a raw talent to become one of the best right-back in the world and still has a huge margin of improvement ahead of him.

Pereira told Calciomercato website: “At the moment I can say that they will remain in Manchester until the end of the season, but in the summer it is very likely that they can go.”

With Moyes in the market for a left-back, Fabio’s departure could be absorbed rather easily, but many thought the Brazilian should be given a chance and, even in the event of a left-back arriving in the summer, Patrice Evra and Alexander Buttner should be the ones making way, rather than Fabio.

Rafael’s exit, on the other hand, would force United to enter the market for a right-back, given that Phil Jones is only a stop-gap solution in the role and Chris Smalling has filled in for the Brazilian with disastrous results, given that the former Fulham players is a centre-back by trade.

In other bizarre transfer news, reports in Italy suggest that United are interested to bring Sunderland keeper Vito Mannone to Old Trafford, who David Moyes sees as the perfect understudy for David De Gea.

Selling full-backs and scouting back-up keepers, exactly what United didn’t need this month.