United Announce Winter Transfers… I Am… Ill-Informed?

By: Taylor Rockwell | January 2nd, 2009

Soccernet.com is reporting that, “Manchester United have concluded their business in the January transfer window with the capture of Serbian duo Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajic from Partizan Belgrade.” It seems that an announcement was made in November that Manchester had reached an agreement with Partizan for Tosic and Ljajic, but that no official statements were made until personal terms were agreed upon and visas were acquired. The article continues:

Ferguson himself personally attend a November hearing regarding the work permit of 21-year-old Tosic and the deal looked close to collapse at one point. However, any outstanding issues have now been resolved, leaving Tosic free to swap the Stadion Partizana for Old Trafford next week, with Ljajic staying in Belgrade for the remainder of the season.

Despite being just 21, Tosic has already made 12 appearances for Serbia, including at the Beijing Olympics, and is regarded as one of the best young wide players in Europe.

“He will need to get used to the tempo of our game and the training but he could play for us this season,” Ferguson said of Tosic. “Hopefully he does well but we will have to give him time because he has not played since December 10.”

While Tosic may get first team opportunities this season, 17 year old Ljajic will remain at Partizan until January 2010 in order to gain more experience and (ostensibly) confidence.

Fergie and His New Boys From the East

Fergie put a hush on all other transfer rumors, stating, “That is the end of the transfer business at Manchester United this year. There will definitely not be anything else this January.”

Other than what I’ve read from various soccer sites and Wikipedia, I know very little about either of these youngsters. However, since our last import from Serbia did fairly well, I have high hopes for the duo. That said, it always takes a while for January transfers to settle in (see: Vidic and Evra), so don’t expect too much from Tosic until next season.

Here are some vids to get you acquainted with our new boys…

That said, these signings seem to indicate one or more of the following things:
1 – Giggsy is on his last legs, and probably only has one more season in him
2 – Fergie doesn’t see Park as an acceptable full-time partner to Ronaldo on the wing.
3 – Nani has had a considerable fall from grace since his signing last summer.

My guess is that numbers 1 and 3 are the most accurate. Nani hasn’t really factored at all this season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the rumor mill starting linking him with a move away from Manchester. How say you, readers? Do these moves look promising or destined to fail? Will our Serbian imports find success or failure in the EPL this season/next?

Ferguson himself personally attend a November hearing regarding the work permit of 21-year-old Tosic and the deal looked close to collapse at one point. However, any outstanding issues have now been resolved, leaving Tosic free to swap the Stadion Partizana for Old Trafford next week, with Ljajic staying in Belgrade for the remainder of the season.

Update: Here’s a much better photo with Vida included (note how big Ljajic already is. Good stuff!