Lewis Holtby

[Raf's Hairdryer Treatment]

Surprised we haven't been linked with him already. Looks a quality player. Seen a few highlights of Schalke games this season and watched the full 90mins of Germany's last friendly.

Still young at 22 so he'd probably not mind working his way into the team. He's a winger but he's currently playing as an attacking mid behind Huntelaar cos Schalke are well stocked out wide. Not a complete player but nevertheless looks a good prospect.

Arse Whinger and Rentybin Rodgers have both been talking about him a lot. But I'd guess that a move to Loserpool is unlikely cos who'd want to move from a top four CL side to a mid table Europa League hopeful? Best thing about him is that he only has 8 months left on his current contract and has constantly been stalling so I'd expect him to be cheap. Reckon about £10M tops should secure it.

[Deleted]

he'd cost nothing if we get a pre-contract in 2 months

[RedDevil'sAdvocate]

Heard good things about him, never really seen him play. Do we need another winger/attacking mid though. Not sure how we'll accomodate all the attacking talent we allready have when they are all fit and ready to go. But if he's cheap or free.....

[redcase]

Starting lineup in Schalke to a maybe spot here?

I don't think he'd bite. He's already chosen Germany over England. So its a fair bet that he'd want to quickly break into the German squad, and that won't happen by sitting on the bench at United behind Giggs and Scholes in the pecking order.

I say no chance.

[karthy]

I'd say the opposite , he's got a fair chance with us. 2 out of 3 wingers are consistently under performing, can get a regular place in the line up by just doing the basics ( which he does so effectively ).

+ i keep repeating this our likely transfers are the ones like this - last year on contract , no extension , low sal cap - Perfect Fit. The fact that he hasn't been linked with us so far means even more so IMO

[SAF_Legend]

I seriously think we should look to getting another Assman in before signing anyone just yet.

[Raf's Hairdryer Treatment]

Some quotes:

"We are in intensive talks with Lewis (Holtby),” the former Germany international was quoted as saying in an interview. The former Germany player suggested that they want the young prospect to extend his stay with the Miners. Nevertheless, he understands that the star player is going through a tough period as he wants what is best for him in the long run. "I would be glad to see him decide in our favour then. Still it is very important for him to take his time and look into options at other clubs,” - Club director on 15th Nov '12

"I think people talk about it too much in the media," Holtby said. "I am blue and white, I am with Schalke and agents are there to deal with that. My focus is on the squad, the team, the club and tomorrow's game." "I play for Schalke, I don't play for Liverpool, Arsenal or anyone else," he said. - 5th Nov '12

"I always said that my dream is to play in England and it'll [happen] one day, I can tell you that, because my hunger is really big for the Premier League." - 26th Oct '12

"I was brought up in ­Germany, but I always ­supported ­England because of my dad... Nobody from the English FA got in contact and it was probably too late ­anyway. Once I played for Germany Under-18s, that was probably it – I would have felt a traitor changing shirts." "I still have tears in my eyes at the thought of England losing the ­penalty shoot-out to ­Germany." - 21st Oct '12

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Can be taken either way, but I personally see him as very getable. Agreed that he's not exactly what we need, but there's no harm in competition for places. We have 3 wingers, 2 of whom should be battling tooth and nail for the left side spot. Nani doesn't seem to give a shit enough to fight for it and Valencia's become a guaranteed starter, which in it's own way could just make his game stagnate further. So basically there's little to no competition if we play with 2 wide men.

If we could get him for less than 10... that'd be 1 problem solved. Plus he's left footed which I like a lot.

[Rorschach]

Definitely a realistic signing if United were interested but I'm not sure it's something the team needs. He seems to be enjoying his best form playing behind the strikers, which is where we have Kagawa and Rooney playing in Ferguson's current plans. On the wings we have Valencia, Young and Nani and whilst they are all desperately out of form at the moment, that won't last.

If the club chooses to offload Nani then I think it's more likely that Ferguson would go for Zaha and/or Ince as understudy to Young and Valencia. They have the added bonus of being homegrown, which of course becomes more important with all these European regulations.

Still, I've heard plenty of good things so I wouldn't exactly complain if he did come to the club!

[moscow3]

On a free....most definitely, but to be honest I'd prefer Barnetta if we were gonna dick Schalke over. More of the type of player we need

[alt]

Signed for Spurs on a pre-contract, good signing that is for them.

[Rene Meulensteen]

Left Winger isn't he?!? Interesting.

[traffordbrown]

Obviously not interested in winning trophies.

[SAF_Legend]

Wouldn't have mind a bit if we had signed him.

[tommyred]

Bale's replacement.

[Bestie]

Great signing for Spurs, but tom's right. You have to wonder about Bale. When does Holtby play ahead of GB?