Global football is currently on pause for the most part, but the Premier League will restart again on June 17, with matches to be played behind closed doors. Project Restart has its issues, sure, but overall it looks on track to be a success. United will restart their season with a fixture at Tottenham Hotspur.
Until we have football matches again, we still have plenty of news items to cover and analyze. So let’s take a look at what the Manchester United community is talking about in cyberspace. For today’s first edition of MUFC transfer rumors round-up go here. For today’s MUFC news and notes round-up go here.
We start with Saul Niguez just to get it over with quickly. The Atletico Madrid midfielder teased on the weekend that he was going to announce his new club on Wednesday.
As Guillem Balague predicted yesterday, this was just a marketing publicity stunt. Niguez announced nothing except a new corporate partnership, playing the media like a violin.
Next.
United have been considered the front-runner to sign Birmingham City teenager Jude Bellingham this spring, but apparently they will need to loosen the purse strings a bit. That’s what happens when you’re Manchester United. Every club knows how deep your pockets are, so when you’re interested in one of their players, they hike up the price.
Per an ESPN report today on the 16-year-old midfielder: “Birmingham accept they will have to cash in on Bellingham as they look to ease their financial problems but the Championship side want a large chunk of the fee up front before parting with their prize asset.”
Finally, Bayer Leverkusen scoring sensation Kai Havertz is wanted by several of the biggest clubs in the world- United, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Real Madrid among others.
Bayer Director Rudi Voller hopes that his club can keep him for at least one more year, but realizes that might be wishful thinking.
“I’m honest, I always have such a small hope that we can and will keep him here for another year,” he said to Sky Sports (h/t Goal) today when asked about Havertz’s future with the club.
Voller believes Havertz will move to a giant club, and that his valuation, approximately £90 million ($113m) won’t be adversely affected by spending (on account of the COVID-19 pandemic) being down this transfer window.
“It doesn’t change the fact that he’s already a world-class player anyway, that’s what he was before. Now the attention is even more on him,” Voller continued.
“He will switch to an absolute world-class club at some point.”
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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