Manchester City, along with the rest of most global football, are off indefinitely, so let’s do some transfer talk instead. If there’s one thing that can survive a global pandemic, it’s transfer rumors. In fact, the rumor mill can probably survive any type of apocalytpic event.
With that in mind, let’s take a spin through the Manchester City related rumor mill, starting with Marseille centre-back Duje Caleta-Car. What held City back this season, from achieving the success of last season was mostly defensive breakdowns.
The Sky Blues were injury ravaged in central defense this season, and that issue was exacerbated by their failure to upgrade the position in the summer transfer window.
They did rival United for Harry Maguire, but in the end it was Old Trafford that was willing to splash the cash and break records. And it appears that United could once again be rivaling their neighbors for some of their top transfer targets.
Regarding Caleta-Car, 90 Min has more at this link. Elsewhere Inter Milan center half Milan Skriniar is a trending term in the transfer rumors pages today, with Italian outlet Calciomercato claiming that the Slovakian is heading towards the top of their shopping list.
Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are also reportedly keen on the 25-year-old.
Finally, we shift from the back to instead a striker that’s been linked with Liverpool and both Manchester clubs. Supposedly, all three of the northwest England giants would be keen to exercise his release clause, thought to be in the neighborhood of €55 million.
The problem is that the summer transfer window, as we know it, may not be the same once the coronavirus pandemic passes. That’s because some teams in the first two tiers of German football may not be fiscally solvent enought to still exist.
RB Leipzig Sporting Director Markus Krosche articulated all of the uncertainty in an interview with Sport1:
“We can’t say how the transfer market will develop. We are starring into a very foggy crystal ball. We don’t know how our resources will be and what options other clubs might have.”
“England has similar problems like us. To bank on clocks running differently there just because they have investors is wrong.”
A wave of clubs suffering bankrupcties could hit several other countries in Europe too; including England. Giving the humanitarian crisis and world financial collapse that’s happening right in front of us, those who are spending big are set to suffer a public backlash.
“Investors also have economic constraints,” Krosche continued.
“The crisis does not only hit our branch but has a worldwide impact. Today, we are not able to gauge if the current numbers [transfer fees] are sustainable in six months from now.”
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 appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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