Manchester United are now in full summer transfer window mode now. Yes, they have one more game to play, on Championship Sunday against already relegated Cardiff City, but it’s pretty meaningless as United are already officially demoted to UEFA Europa League next season.
Why not look ahead to the long and arduous rebuild? Two names to focus on today are the most expensive player in FC Barcelona history, Phillipe Coutinho, and United’s 2016-17 Player of the Year Ander Herrera.
We start with Coutinho, the man who left United’s arch-rival Liverpool in quite possibly the worst way in January of 2018.
The Brazilian has been a flop at Barca, and his dismal showing against his former club in both legs of their UCL semifinal tie loss has probably sealed his fate. He is on his way out according to ESPN.
“Coutinho is not a Barcelona player, that’s been made clear,” a club source told ESPN FC…and the source bemoaned that “he has added nothing. He will leave in the summer.”
Ok, so if Coutinho is headed out the the exit door of the Catalan club, where could he go? Given his extremely pricy valuation, the list of potential destinations is small. United, who need upgrades at all positions, and have money to burn at all times, just might be the place.
After all Coutinho to United is a transfer rumor narrative that has certainly been circulating in full force already in 2019.
Speaking of transfer narratives that we’ve already heard a lot about already, Ander Herrera is on his way out of United and headed to Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. With his contract expiring and thus no transfer fee to pay, PSG can easily afford to give him a huge pay rise.
According to Spanish publication AS (h/t NBC), Herrera will play his final game with United on Sunday and then sign a four year contract with the French giants.
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.