Manchester United Transfer News: Landing Shinji Kagawa Won’t Be Easy

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Manchester United have made clear their interest in Shinji Kagawa, but Kagawa’s current club, Borussia Dortmund, has made it just as clear he won’t come cheap. 

The news coming from the Mirror:

“Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke insists the club will demand a high transfer despite the 23-year-old nearing the end of his contract—citing Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s move to Bayern Munich as an example.

‘It’s pretty obvious what Shinji’s qualities are, how old he is and how valuable he is for this team. Then I look at the money Bayern paid for Manuel Neuer. He had one year left on his contract, too. You can derive a sum from that,’ said Watzke.”

Let’s take a further look at why Watzke is unwilling to let his star midfielder go for a bargain. 

Goal-scoring ability

With the exception of Robert Lewandowski, Kagawa was Dortmund’s best goal-scorer this season. 

In 29 appearances in the Bundesliga, the Japanese International netted 13 goals while racking up 63 shots, or 2.2 per game. And a good portion of those goals were fairly spectacular finishes from a long distance out. Take a look.

Kagawa, who serves as a center-attacking midfielder, is clearly comfortable launching the ball from anywhere around the box, but he’s also a precise finisher when he gets inside it, too. 

Additionally, Kagawa has been a solid link between the midfield and Lewandowski, tallying eight assists, 1.8 key passes per game, and a pass-success percentage of 83.1.

This is a very good offensive player.

Age and experience

It’s not like Kagawa has been out playing in the Finland Premier League (Veikkausliiga, if you were wondering). He’s been one of the best players on arguably the best club in one of the best leagues in the world. 

And he’s doing it at just 23 years of age. 

Kagawa seems ready for the EPL.

Of course, he’s had varying success in the Champions League, netting one goal, zero assists, and a 6.2 average match rating in four appearances, so whoever welcomes him to the EPL may have that to worry about.

Nonetheless, he continues to get better and has experience under his belt that not a lot of players his age have. 

Dortmund and Watzke need to be careful, because if they continue to drive the fee up, they’ll lose Kagawa for nothing when his contract expires, but it’s understandable why they value their young star so highly. 

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