The rebuild of Manchester United could definitely take some time, so get ready and dig your heels in for that. The upshot is that we’ll have a summer transfer window filled with many comings and goings.
And with Manchester United linked to approximately 97,324 players already, the time is right for some Red Devils transfer talk. In this edition, we cover one player from every outfield position group.
Sky Sports transfer centre, citing Goal.com’s French website, report that United have offered Lyon around £35 million for striker Moussa Dembele. The former Tottenham Hotspur target is also reportedly on the radar of Paris Saint-Germain.
If Romelu Lukaku is really off to Serie A, as has been speculated, then Dembele might be the perfect replacement.
Shifting to the midfield now, there has been plenty of talk about United pursuing Newcastle man Sean Longstaff, and there seems to be some growing momentum that a deal for the 21-year-old could get done soon. According to Metro, United are hoping to seal his signature with a bid of £25 million.
Finally, defender Marcos Rojo had been regarded to be one of the players most likely to leave Old Trafford this summer.
Well, now that the Argentine has spoken out about his future, it appears the opposite of the so-called conventional wisdom is the case.
Rojo revealed that he received an offer from Boca Juniors, as his former teammate Nicolas Burdisso is now the club’s sporting director.
“Nico Burdisso called me, he was my teammate in the national team. He called me when he took over at Boca,” Rojo told El Dia.
“At that time I was not playing. I thanked him but I told him that my intention was to continue in Manchester. Boca are a great team, but for the moment I want to continue in Europe.”
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants Rojo to stay too.
“For now, continue with United,” Rojo said. “I talked to the coach before the holidays and what he planned to do with me.”
“He told me that he had me in mind, that he was an important player, that he was going to take me into account and that he wanted me to recover well so I could count on me in the first team. Now to rest, be with my family before returning to England.”
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.
Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, also contributes to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.