It is all about the Special Juan yet again today, with a dash of Rooney, Arsenal, Messi and an unhappy Canary too.
More than 24 hours after the ‘Juan Mata to United’ rumour broke and the speculation around his future shows no sign of slowing down. The story pops up in all the papers today, but there a few twists, depending on who you read.
The Times reckon United are poised to make a £37million pound bid for the Spaniard, but the paper reckons Chelsea are holding out £40m. Over at the Telegraph, they reckon the story is a bit more complicated. They say that Atletico Madrid are trying to stop United from buying Mata by offering them first option on striker Diego Costa and full-back Filipe Luis, presumably because Diego Simeone fancies boosting his La Liga hopes with the wee Chelsea man instead.
A further wrinkle to the tale comes in the shape of Wayne Rooney’s future. Long speculated to be part of any potential Mata move to Chelsea, today’s Telegraph says that Real Madrid will bid for the Englsih striker this summer, though that story has already been denied by the likes of Guillem Balague this morning, who says Real have ‘zero interest’ in Rooney.
The Sun also weigh in on the subject to say Rooney will not sign a new deal at Old Trafford, regardless of what happens Mata. Clear? Good, we’ll continue.
Another name floated about yesterday with a move to United, Bayern Munich defender Dante, is not interested, according to the Express, while in a final bit of Man United news, Nani may be off to Sporting Lisbon or Juve, according to the Mirror.
From an Irish point of view the big news is Wes Hoolahan. Linked with a switch to Aston Villa from the time the window slammed open (well, if it can slam shut…) the winger’s hopes of leaving Carrow Road have stalled and yesterday a formal transfer request from the Irish international was rejected by Norwich.
Hoolahan issued a statement on the subject last night reasserting his desire to 'play elsewhere' but it looks increasingly likely that he is going nowhere this month.
Arsenal pop up in a few stories today, with the Express reporting they face a battle with Zenit and Valencia to sign Benfica striker Rodrigo. The ongoing Julian Draxler saga rumbles on too, with The Sun asserting that Arsene Wenger is readying a £35m package to land the Schalke man, with Lukas Podolski part of that bundle.
Elsewhere, Liverpool are linked with ‘Norwegian star Valon Berisha’ by the Star, the Guardian say that Joleon Lescott will leave Manchester City by the end of the month and Stoke are close to landing Lee ‘It wasn’t me ref’ Cattermole for £5m, according to the Stoke Sentinel.
Finally, any slim hopes your club had of signing Lionel Messi are probably gone as The Sun say that he is about to sign a £37m-a-year contract at Barcelona. That’ll keep him in terrible suits for a while.
