According to a report in the Chronicle, Rafa Benitez tried to sign Bournemouth winger Junior Stanislas in the last window – and there may be a chance he goes back in for him in January now that he’s struggling for regular starts in Eddie Howe’s side.
It is unclear why the move for him didn’t come to anything, although he did sign a new contract with Bournemouth in the summer – so any cut-price deal probably disappeared once that went through.
He has been with Bournemouth for a few years now and has been a key player in there rise from the Championship to becoming Premier League mainstays. He has struggled to get in the team this season and there may be a chance that he wants to leave if the chance was right.
Here’s a snippet from the Chronicle’s piece that highlights Rafa’s interest:
“As the Chronicle reported in October, United’s main priority in January is to sign a new winger and Toon talent spotters have taken in games Belgium, France, Spain and Holland in recent weeks to find the perfect fit for that position.
“United had looked at signing Junior Stanislas of Bournemouth in the last window but the former West Ham man has now signed a deal with the Cherries until 2021.”
Rafa appears to have highlighted a centre forward as his number one signing for the January window, so Stanislas wouldn’t fit the bill in that sense, and it could be argued that he no better than the wingers we have on the books at the moment, but he would provide Premier League experience and competition for places.
Of course, with Mike Ashley as our owner, the move would have to be financially right for him, and with Stanislas signing a new contract til 2021, Bournemouth would probably demand a high transfer fee.
Is this the type of player you would like to see us go for in January?
Another player raffa after that doesont get game time. Don’t under stand not good enough for Bournemouth but good enough for us typical
Chris(Quote)