Cristiano Ronaldo has been teasing Man United fans about a potential return, Luis Suarez has been linked with a sensational move to Arsenal and the future looks pretty uncertain for Ireland’s Shay Given.
With Cristiano Ronaldo tentatively linked with a move back to Old Trafford, Thiago Alcantara the subject of stronger speculation and uncertainty still surrounding the future of Wayne Rooney, it’s been a summer of what-ifs for Manchester United fans so far.
The return of Ronaldo always seemed a bit ambitious for some but the man himself hasn’t exactly quashed the hopes of those still pining for him to come back to Old Trafford with quotes suggesting that he misses United very much, but he, you know, really likes playing in Spain too.
"I miss English football," Ronaldo is quoted as saying in The Guardian.
"For me, it was [some] of the best years in my career when I was there in Manchester United. Everyone knows that it is a club that is still in my heart and I really, really miss. But now my life is in Spain. I am enjoying playing there, too. Part of my life is there [in Manchester], but in the future we never know. I am really, really happy in the Spanish league."
Cheers for not being so vague there Ronnie. Speaking of his former team-mate Rooney, meanwhile, a number of papers are suggesting that he will have to formally submit a transfer request if he wants a move away from Old Trafford, although we should know more about the situation when David Moyes gives his first press conference as United manager tomorrow.
While a Ronaldo move to, or a Rooney move away from, United would be pretty big news, it would hardly compare to a story in The Sun that suggests that Arsenal could make a move for want-away Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. That follows on from reports that a number of bookmakers suspended betting on the move following a flood of bets last night but we’d still class this one in the ‘believe it when we see it’ category.
More of a sure thing as far as Arsenal are concerned is the arrival of Gonzalo Higuain, who is said to be on the verge of a three-year contract worth in the region of £100,000 a week. Nice work if you can get it alright.
The imminent deal for Higuain hasn’t stopped The Daily Star from saying that Arsenal are also interested in Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic, although they are likely to face competition from Manchester City for his signature. Speaking of City, The Times claim that Alvaro Negredo is close to crossing the t’s and dotting the lower-case j’s in a deal worth £24 million to bring him to Manchester from Sevilla to replace the departed Carlos Tevez.
Like City, Chelsea have already done business in this transfer window and look like they’re about to do some more having this morning confirmed the signing of midfielder Marco van Ginkel from Vitesse Arnhem, who could soon be joined at the Blues by Daniele De Rossi, if a story about a mooted £10 million bid for the Italian in the Daily Mirror is to be believed.
Finally, it’s hard to believe we’ve got this far without mentioning Gareth Bale and Real Madrid in the same sentence but Marca believe that Bale’s move to Spain is far more likely to happen next summer rather than this.
Elsewhere, numerous sources suggest that new PSG boss Laurent Blanc wants to take Yohan Cabaye from Newcastle and Shay Given mightn’t even get a place on Aston Villa’s bench next season having been left out of the club’s pre-season tour of Germany along with striker Darren Bent (Daily Mail).
