Football Summer Transfer - A Review So Far- (Part I : Man Utd)

So it is, just a couple of weeks away from the transfer deadline of European football, it has been a busy summer for European giants, let's review the transfer activities for some of the European big names, such as Man utd, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool , Arsenal, AC Milan, Juventus and Chelsea. It's not that other clubs is not worth of being reviewed but i take list of clubs that dominate the European champions league on the past decade and have strong financial basis to support their transfer activity, so let's get it on

-Manchester United; England-
The champions of England looking to strengthen their squad due to the release of some player that looking for other opportunities to play regularly elsewhere and of course the retirement of their seniors player,so if we mention first team players that either retired or looking the way out are:
1. John O'Shea (D R/L/C) -Sunderland
2. Wes Brown (D R/C) - Sunderland
3. Gary Neville (D R/C) - Retired
4. Paul Scholes (MF C) - Retired
5. Bebe (ST/WG) - Besiktas
6. Ritchie De Laet (D R/L) _ Norwich
7. Edwin Van Der Sar (GK)- Retired

Next Season Manutd will play on 3 domestic competition and in the champions league, so they need a sizable squad to compete in all competition, and not to forget there are at least 5 first team player with age over 30 yrs old. The main focus of Manutd in this summer transfer activity is how to replace players that left the club and preparing the regeneration of the squad. So far Manutd has bought 3 exciting young players, they are:

1. Ashley Young (ST/MF R/L/C) - 26 yrs old- Undisclosed fee (est 15 million pounds)

2. Phil Jones (D/MF C) - 19 yrs old - 16 million pounds

3. David De Gea (GK) - 20 yrs old - 19 million pounds.

The new boys, Ashley Young can play as Winger, Central Midfield and as a Forward and in a long run are being prepared to replace Ryan Giggs, i do think Ashley Young is the best valued transfer from Manutd this summer, and for David De Gea a hefty 19 million pounds transfer is a lot money for 20 years old Goalie that hasn't been proven in international competition, but none would argue the bright talent that this young Goalie has, it's a gamble but placed on a good bet and the same goes to Phil Jones, although i believe the young defender would be kind a difficult to break to dominance force of Ferdinand-Vidic this season.

Many believe Manutd need to buy player to replace the legendary Paul Scholes, so far many names has come up to surface like Luka Modric, Wesley Sneijder, Javier Pastore, Joey Barton, etc, but latest news (07/24/2011) Sir Alex stated that "The summer transfer activity for Manutd is over" and "...will looking the replacement of Paul Scholes from existing player on the squad" that decision maybe also affected by the promotion of some players from Manutd youth team that perform well on pre-season matches like Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverly. So if that is going to happen up until now Manutd has spend 50 million pounds for 3 players, all of them or being regarded as bright talents for the future and also can make immediate contribution at that tender age. Although i still believe that Manutd HAVE to sign a world class midfielder to challenge the dominance of Barcelona in Europe but i think they have use their money wisely and sufficient with their needs.

Patriotism

George Washington (1732 - 1799) 

"I know [patriotism] exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest. But a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest, or some reward."

Jambi Sumatera

Well, in most of cities in Sumatera, you can always find Durians sell in many places in the city, for local tourist it becomes a "must" to visit the most well known area that sells durians, people often just eat it on the side of the street and just focus with the durians and ignore everything else (it's true people! ). This picture was taken in Jambi, the durians was okay but not as good as durians at Medan :) but the price is definitely cheaper compared to durians in Jawa. :)

Dark tower...

 

I took this photo from an apartment in Kelapa Gading Jakarta, it's not actually a tower (yes, i just want to clarify on that ) but i just love the sense of darkness in this picture and imagining what if it's really a dark tower? who lives on that tower? well... have your own imagination people! :)

A day in the swimming pool

Life is much more simpler when we were young, and i always remember that swimming pool has been my favorite spot if i wanted to have some fun....(ps: swimming is good for your health!)

Need For Speed.. :p

 

I took this photo from a taxi on a busy road in Jakarta, a common view in the streets of Jakarta, in this city we're always in a rush and often get stucked in a traffic jam, but let's look at the bright side :) ...driver/biker in Jakarta are probably one of the most skillful driver/biker in the world... well imagine this, situation in Jakarta a 15 minutes trip could go on to an hour trip in rush hour traffic, so that means stamina is playing a key factor, and many roads in Jakarta are constantly being repaired/dug for gas pipe, cable or fiber optic maintenance so roads often covered with mud and dust, and when you think you can survive that obstacles, you have to compete with other vehicle to fight your way, usually car driver hates biker and vice versa, but i think the common enemy was the Metromini, bajaj,bus,etc the poorly managed public transportation in Jakarta. They stopped whenever they like and drive very recklessly... and when  the rain pours in, flood will covered most roads in Jakarta..... to be honest i think the situation of roads in Jakarta will getting worse in the future, unless somebody  who govern this city come up with radical ideas to save this city...  Let us all pray.......... #SaveJkt   

Candle in the night

 

Life is more meaningful if we use our time to help others..blike candles illuminate others bla bla..blaaa.. hehehe... i just took this photo to try some experiments with my camera.