Antonio Valencia

Antonio Valencia today signed a four year deal with Manchester United for an undisclosed fee (likely around £16 million).

Comparisons are bound to be drawn with Ronaldo simply because he is likely to be operating on the right wing and already people are pointing to his comparitively poor goal-scoring record for Wigan (6 goals in 47 appearances last season) but his all round play and ability should fit in very well for us.

I think it’s also worth bearing in mind that he is still only 23 (will be 24 when the season starts, however) and there’s plenty of time for improvement and he’s now at the best place to make that improvement.

I also have little doubt that playing for United, if he gets the games, he will score more than six goals in his first season with us.

One thing I think we will see from Valencia that we never got from Ronaldo is a bit of tracking back, tackling and a defensive shift now and again.

All in all, I think Valencia is a very good signing and I hope this is the first of at least three before the season starts.