Welcome to the summer silly season! And of course, you can’t say “summer transfer window” at Manchester United and not talk Jadon Sancho. We don’t have an update on that end, but we do have two fresh transfer narratives to discuss: Villareal defender Pau Torres and Pogon Szczecin midfielder Kacper Kozlowski.
For the United news and notes segment go here. We’ll begin with the former, who could be the answer to the question- who could they get as an upgrade to partner with Harry Maguire in central defense?
According to the Manchester Evening News, Torres, who they are quite familiar with due to the Europa League Final defeat, is the next target that they have set their sights on.
The club has been linked with former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, who is now available on a free, but there are questions about whether or not that’s a good fit. Ramos’ former centreback pairing, Raphael Varane, was subject to a €55 million bid, reportedly, but the Bernabeu said no.
With Varane’s contract expiring next summer, Old Trafford is not interested in going any higher, and honestly that price is high enough already, especially for a guy that should be available for free in 2022.
Getting back to Torres, he reportedly has a release clause of €60 million included in his contract, which runs until 2024.
United are hoping to not go that route though, and instead pay a transfer fee plus send players the other way. MUFC brass believes they can obtain the Yellow Submarine star with a cash plus player(s) swap deal. Watch this space.
Now we move on to Kozlowski, the 17-year-old who, when he played against Spain at Euro 2020, became the youngest player to ever feature at a European Championship.
According to a report in Gazzetta dello Sport, United are among the throng of teams interested in acquiring his signature.
The list also includes FC Barcelona, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund, with the German giants said to be the front-runners right now. Should be interesting to see how it all shapes out in the end.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.