Global football is currently on pause for the most part, but the Premier League announced today, a restart that begins on June 17. The bulk of the first set of matches are to be played June 20-21, all of which televised, and behind closed doors.
So now he have a specific date to count down to when it comes to Project Restart. Until we get there, and actual football is back, we still have plenty of transfer talk to cover and analyze. So let’s take a spin through the Manchester United rumor mill in cyberspace.
Ajax defender Nicolas Tagliafico is on the trading block; that’s according to the Sun, who report that the Argentine could be had for £20 million.
The 27-year-old is considered one of the best left backs in all of Europe, but Ajax CEO Edwin van der Saar has indicated that a few of the club’s stars (including Donny van de Beek) will be made available to leave this summer, should they desire so. Arsenal (as we’ve covered before), Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are all also said to be keen.
He’s a perfect fit for Chelsea, who see him as a cheaper alternative to Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell, one of their top targets this window, according to The Telegraph.
Tagliafico could bring some calmness, consistency and reliability to the position, which is somewhat lacking under Emerson Palmieri and Marcos Alonso.
Elsewhere, it was thought a couple days ago, by a substantial portion of Manchester United fan Twitter, the club signed Angel Gomes to an extension. The Chelsea target, for the time being, remains on the open market.
Today, the Daily Mail claim that Old Trafford made an offer of £1.5 million a year to the diminuitive youngster. The 19-year-old’s contract at United expires on June 30 after he rejected a new offer of £20,000 a week in January. The Blues remain interested and ready to scoop him up.
Paul M.Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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