Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson retired as the manager of Manchester United things have not been the same.
United have failed to win the Premier League since the Scot vacated his chair and many feel that the new managers have failed to bring in the desired new signings which could turn the tide in their club’s favour.
And one unanimous opinion is that the Red Devils have failed to find a long-term replacement to midfielder Paul Scholes.
Scholes belonged to that famous class of 92 as went on to play for two decades at Old Trafford.
And such was his importance for the club that he had to come out of retirement in order to reclaim his spot in midfield.
Paul Scholes is perhaps the only midfielder who has received high praise from his peers as many a great footballer has named the player as the best midfielder of his generation.
But Sir Alex knew pretty well that a time would come when he would have to look beyond the player and now former first-team coach Rene Meulensteen has revealed that the club were looking at two German youngsters as a replacement to Scholes.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Meulensteen said: “We were looking at Gundogan from Dortmund and Reus at that time. We were looking at Gundogan – someone similar (to Scholes), who could keep ticking the ball over, thinks quick and has tempo.”
But Reus and Gundogan were playing for Borussia Dortmund at the time and while Marco Reus is still with the German outfit, Gundogan joined United’s arch-rivals Manchester City in 2016.
Gundogan’ start to his career in England did not go as planned after suffering a knee ligament injury months after making his debut for the Citizens.
But the German international played a crucial part in Man City’s title-winning campaign last season and has been tipped to play even a bigger this time around.
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