Seems like the transfer dev… Gods were smiling down on us this morning, after our complaining of no new names yesterday.
The Sun lead big with the suggestion of relatively goal shy Romelu Lukaku of Everton being the main target for United if Mario Mandzukic goes somewhere else. It’s so exciting getting linked to a new name but let us consider the logic… Lukaku did not have the best year last time around.
10 league goals isn’t disgraceful and he has a size and frame that he used to his advantage in his loan year at Goodison Park but we are just twelve months since his transfer there for £28m. Can’t imagine the Toffees taking a hit on him and can’t see that he’s worth a £30m gamble even if his potential is huge.
Galatasaray have apparently made an approach for Robin van Persie, the player that Lukaku would presumably be replacing, if we thought this rumour were true, which we don’t.
That’s not all! Marca claim that Man Utd want Raphael Varane in any deal that involves David De Gea. Varane had a bit of a stinker for France recently just like Phil Jones yet there remains hope he will blossom, just like Phil Jones. Just kidding, we like Varane, but surely the real news, if there is any, is that there are now serious talks being had about the transfer of De Gea.
In any event, Varane wants to stay there, so that’s that one done. In related news, Keylor Navas picked up an Achilles injury, and if it is revealed to be serious, it may present a pressing urgency for Madrid to sign De Gea, and might reflect in a more favourable or fair fee. We doubt it, given our history with these matters.
Completing the new names today is Fabinho, the 21 year old Monaco right back, valued at £10m by L’Equipe. Fabinho is currently in Chile for Brazil’s Copa America campaign and is tipped to be the successor there long term for Dani Alves, although he’ll be competing with Danilo. Barcelona have been linked with him but given they could field a first team of right backs, do we have an advantage here?
The Mirror say that Morgan Schneiderlin has a price tag of £25m should United or Arsenal want to take him from Southampton. We shall see.
We’ll close by saying we did have a cheeky look at the Metro’s headline as a ‘shock’ target to replace David De Gea. Who could it be? It’s Cillessen, the Ajax keeper, who’s been repeatedly linked with a move to United since the weekend. We can only presume that the Metro have had their head stuck somewhere devoid of oxygen for a few days. Presumably they’re trying to figure out why Manchester City are offering £40m for Raheem Sterling when they already told us his move to United had been completed.
Players linked to United : Dani Alves, Hugo Lloris, Mats Hummels, Nathaniel Clyne, Gareth Bale, Morgan Schneiderlin, Nicolas Otamendi, Felipe Anderson, Petr Cech, Raheem Sterling, Nicolas Gaitan, Ilkay Gundogan, Lorenzo Gonzalez, Bastian Schweinstiger, Harry Kane, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Muslera, Asmir Begovic, David Alaba, Carlos Bacca, Arturo Vidal, Joseph Colley, Gonzalo Higuain, Radja Nainggolan, Gregory van der Wiel, Mario Mandzukic, Christian Eriksen ’89, Roberto Dourado, Roberto Firmino, Memphis Depay, Jasper Cillessen, John Stones, Paul Pogba, Thomas Muller, Axel Witsel, Freddy Guarin, Seamus Coleman, Fabinho, Romelu Lukaku, Raphael Varane
