Time to dust off the cheque book at Old Trafford…
Despite Man Utd’s impressive pre-season it seems that Louis Van Gaal has realised that he seems to be missing a few of those things… what do you call them? Oh yeah, defenders. Numerous papers have picked up on Arsene Wenger’s cryptic comments about Thomas Vermaelen’s potential move to Old Trafford this morning. When asked if United were one of the bidders for the Belgian, he said: “I think they could be in the group.” Wenger did categorically deny that Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira would be joining the club though. Do we believe him?
The Express reckon that United will meet the £36m asking price for Fiorentina’s Juan Cuadrado, The Star think Van Gaal is eyeing up Roma’s Mehdi Benatia while The Mail suggest Daley Blind is Old Trafford bound. Jeez, all of this before even mentioning Arturo Vidal.
Now that we mention it, the Vidal saga is now officially this summer’s Gareth Bale. The latest update comes from the Independent who reckon United have agreed an £182,000-a-week contract for the midfielder. Put all of these links together and it’s probably a safe bet to say that United will be signing some players soon. Tom Cleverley sheds a single tear.
The ‘Radamel Falcao to Liverpool’ rumour seems to be over already, it was nice when it lasted wasn’t it? The Times reckon that the Colombian striker is off to Real Madrid to join up with his compatriot and JOE mancrush James Rodriguez. Don’t worry Reds fans, the same paper reckons that Brendan Rodgers is switching his attention to Edison Cavani. The Uruguayan’s agent has confirmed that Arsenal are also interested. Call us sceptical.
Daniel Agger and Aly Cissokho don’t seem to be getting the Brendan Rodgers love right now with Arsenal and Barcelona reportedly interested in the tattoo-loving defender while Aston Villa are close to signing the left-back. The Star report that Wenger will return to his love for all things French by trying to prize away PSG’s teenage midfielder Adrien Rabiot.
The Express are trying to use their psychic powers and read the mind of Jose Mourinho. The feel the Special One is prepared to use Petr Cech as bait to land Real Madrid’s highly rated defender Raphael Varane. Yeah, let’s just forget the fact that Real have just signed Keylor Navas recently there lads. Real Madrid’s personal newspaper Spanish newspaper Marca think that PSG and Monaco are the more likely destinations for the Czech ‘keeper. Sacre Bleu!
PSG have claimed that Angel Di Maria is too expensive even for them. Yes, we laughed reading that comment also, but the news should lead to some interesting stories linking the Argentinian schemer to a few English clubs in the next few weeks. So David Luiz is worth £50m but Di Maria is too expensive. PSG logic there for you lads.
The Mirror report that Esteban Cambiasso, he of that amazing goal in the ’06 World Cup, has been offered a £5m deal at Leicester. The same paper think that Javi Garcia is likely to be the next player to leave Manchester City after the club received £12.5m bid from Zenit St Petersburg. That’s like a jumbo-jet losing a cup holder then.
Finally, Cork City’s highly rated Republic of Ireland U-21 international Brian Lenihan is a reported target for Crystal Palace, Hull City and several other Premier League clubs. G’wan Brian.
