The Old Trafford dressing room could be getting bigger…
It seems that Manchester United regard David Moyes as some sort of bogeyman that haunted the club for a year but fear not, the exorcist Louis Van Gaal seems to be doing a good job of ridding the club of this ghost. United have been in terrific pre-season form and the Mail are claiming that the club are about to spend £80m on Real Madrid winger Angel di Maria, Sporting Lisbon’s ‘on strike to force a move’ defender Marcos Rojo and Ajax utility man Daley Blind. Does utility man also mean he can put up shelves and fix the Old Trafford sink?
The paper also claim that Ed Woodward was in Cardiff last night to both watch the Super Cup and hold talks with Di Maria. We have visions of him leaning over the Real Madrid bench and asking for a chat/autograph.The London Evening Standard think that Wilfried Zaha is about to leave Old Trafford and re-join his former club Crystal Palace on loan.
As we reported last night Shane Long is Southampton bound after the clubs bid for Javier Hernandez was rejected. Liverpool have agreed a £12m fee for Seville’s talented full-back Alberto Moreno while Martin Kelly is close to joining Crystal Palace. The Times believe that Samuel Eto’o needs more money to pay for his retirement home mortgage after turning down Liverpool’s initial offer.
The Guardian are reporting that Manchester City’s amazingly average Spanish midfielder Javi Garcia is set to join Zenit St Petersburg for £13m after falling behind new-signing Fernando. The Mail believe that Arsene Wenger is readying an £8m bid to land Newcastle United midfielder/brick sh*t house Cheick Tiote and Olympiakos defender Kostas Manolas with Nicklas Bendtner moving in the opposite direction. No, please keep Nicklas.
The Telegraph are putting their fine journalism degrees to use with the news that Spurs are interested in signing QPR striker Loic Remy and are willing to use Andros Townsend as bait. Do they hang him on the end of a fishing rod or something? Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, Mateo Musacchio of Villarreal and Atletico Madrid defender Toby Alderweireld have also been mentioned as possible new arrivals.
The same paper have added a few more people to the ‘dead wood sale’ at White Hart Lane. Aaron Lennon is among 11 players who face uncertain futures as Mauricio Pochettino looks to trim his squad. Nacer Chadli, Michael Dawson, Benoit Assou-Ekotto Kyle Naughton, Vlad Chiriches, Sandro, Etienne Capoue and Mousa Dembele are all up for grabs.
Elsewhere, The Express feel that Everton and Southampton are set for a fight to the death to secure the£6m-rated Parma winger Jonathan Biabiany. Martinez is close to landing Christian Atsu on loan from Chelsea while Colombia international Carlos Sanchez is set to have a medical at Aston Villa, ahead of a potential £4.5m transfer from Elche.
