Pick Your Poison - Manhester United

The Challenge

Pick 3 players you believe have left your club and gone onto bigger/better things and you want back at the club. Then make a choice between the 3 players as to which one you'd take back in the current squad. Judge all players on their time of sale, not currently.

The Challenger
Richard Laverty, 20, Leeds.

Player 1

Gerard Pique - Central Defender

July 2004 - May 2008

"First name out of the hat, Gerard Pique. It seems obvious doesn't it, Pique perhaps wasn't suited to the English game as he was the La Liga, maybe he would have been, but he didn't show it during his spell at Old Trafford. Caught out many times, namely at Bolton, when Nicolas Anelka finished off a free-kick which Gerard Pique didn't have a clue about. But he showed glimpses of why he has been such a success in bringing the ball out of defence, a cutting edge through ball in 2007 against Wigan set-up United’s second goal. 

He got his name amongst the goals too, against Kiev and Roma, and was picked for the game title decider against Arsenal in 2008. It was a surprise to everyone when Pique was let go, and went on to become a regular Barcelona defender, and beat United in the Champions League final just 12 months after his departure. 

Maybe we’ll never know how suited to the English game Pique would have become, but I do wish we’d have found out."

Gerard Pique looked a very promising defender during his four-year stint at Old Trafford and it came as a bit of a surprise to most fans when he was let go for a measly £5M. He showed great potential while at the club and generally looked like a superb talent. While on loan at Real Zaragoza he made 22 appearances for the Spanish club and we all thought that the next season would be his breakthrough year. However, he made just 9 league appearances and with the stable partnership of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand at the heart of the defence with an emerging Jonny Evans and a Wes Brown in his prime, it looked like he didn't have much room for   game time and was moved on. He's gone on to become one of the best defenders in world football, and it's no coincidence that he has become that after constant game time. We can only imagine what he would have become had he stayed at Old Trafford.

Player 2

Diego Forlan - Striker

January 2002 - August 2004

"Number two on my list is like marmite, you either loved him or hated him. Diego Forlan. To say he took a while to get going at United would be an understatement, but we let him go just as he was becoming the striker he still is today, and showed in South Africa 18 months ago almost.

Once he got that first goal, against the mighty Maccabi Haifa, the goals flowed. There were some scruffy ones, Northampton springs to mind, as does Southampton, when he was running around half naked. But there were the crackers, Southampton again, Chelsea in the last minute and against Rangers in the Champions League. And there were the downright memorable ones…Mr Jerzy Dudek.

Forlan had all the qualities of a top striker, he went on to score plenty with Atletico, he dominated teams in the World Cup with Uruguay and I have no doubt he would have done the same had he stayed at Old Trafford."

Diego Forlan went from one of the flops of the 21st century, to one of the most lethal and feared strikers in world football within 2 seasons. He signed for £7.5M from Independiente with a tonne of potential. He never really hit the heights he was claimed to have stored away while at United, as it took him 27 games before he finally opened his account for Manchester United. His most memorable goal for the club was without doubt the double against arch-rivals Liverpool and that famous blunder from Jerzy Dudek. He signed for Villarreal in the summer of 2004 for just £2M and went on to become one of the most feared strikers in world football, scoring numerous goals for Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, although he's struggled since his summer move to Inter. When he left, he was on the brink of a breakthrough and the season after his departure, United struggled.

Player 3

Zoran Tosic - Winger

January 2009 - June 2010

"Finally, a controversial choice maybe, the little Serbian, Zoran Tosic. There was much excitement when it appeared United clichéd a double deal to bring Tosic and then Partizan team-mate Adem Ljajic to Old Trafford, but when the Ljajic deal fell through, rumours surfaced that Tosic had only been brought here as a buddy for Ljajic, and suddenly the Serbian was out of the door.

He had his moments, a fleeting debut against Tottenham was followed by the odd appearance. He shone in the 2009 pre-season, setting goals up, and scoring a nice goal against Greentown over in Asia, but he was soon on his way to CSKA Moscow, where he has flourished and become a key member of the Serbian national team squad.

Tosic didn’t win the hearts of many United fans but I feel with a few more chances, Tosic would have developed well here and given us good back-up options on the wing, where we sometimes struggle to find back-up for these days."

A strange choice from Richard, I can't see many reasons why any United fans would want Zoran back at the club. He was an exciting young winger, but never looked like he had anywhere near the quality to make an impact at Old Trafford. He had a good pre-season in 2009, but other than that he didn't do much to stand out to the fans or management. He went on loan to Koln in January 2010, and upon his return was sold to CSKA Moscow for around £6M in June. He's done well in Russia, his direct running and skill earning him a starting berth and a regular place in the national squad. With options such as Giuseppe Rossi, Tim Howard and even Cristiano Ronaldo, I myself am struggling to see a reason why he's been included in this list and I don't think we would have offered much more to the current squad than any of the players we already have in the team.

CONCLUSION

RICHARD LAVERTY 

"Who would I take back out of the three at the time they were sold? Under circumstance, it’s too easy to say Pique, but at the time, Rio and Vida were in their pomp, Jonny Evans was a developing young talent, and Wes Brown had just endured his best United season. For me, Diego Forlan left at a time when he could have been a star.

The 04/05 season wasn't a success, in any way. United lacked creativity, sure, Ruud was scoring the goals, we didn’t know if Wayne would sign for us or head up north to Newcastle, Saha had only been with us six months, Solskjaer was crippled, Smith was a new entity, Ronaldo was just a one-trick pony and nobody knew how poor David Bellion would be. There were youngsters, as ever, when nowadays we look to Welbeck and Macheda for youthful inspiration, back then it was Rossi, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, and erm.. Kenny Cooper. Forlan had a chance to shine that season, would we have signed Rooney if he hadn't gone, who knows? But Diego had much more to give, it’s just a shame he didn't want it."

DMF

Personally, I think from the selection given to me by Richard, this is a fairly easy choice to make with the current squad. Forlan would be a good addition to the side, but we currently have plenty of striking options with Rooney, Berbatov, Hernandez, Owen, Welbeck and Macheda so I don't think he'd be necessary or add much to the side that we don't already have. 

Zoran Tosic would still struggle to get into the side with the options we have on the wings in Nani, Young, Valencia, Park and even Giggs to an extent. I also firmly believe if he were still in the side, youngsters like Macheda and Ravel Morrison probably wouldn't be getting a look in right now.

So that leaves world-class defender Gerard Pique. When he left he was ready to break into the starting eleven, but with Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in the pecking order ahead of him he couldn't find a way through. With Rio aged 33 now and struggling to play constantly at a top level, Pique would be the perfect player right now. Young, on the brink of stardom and able to partner Vidic (when fit), Jones, Smalling, Evans and Rio would be a masterful defensive display to watch.

 Do you agree with the choices @JournoRich made? Let us know in the comments section or on Twitter.

DMF (@dmf180593)