Manchester United are likely in the market for a new center back, as they probably can’t win the Premier League with their current set of central defenders. The pursuit of Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels didn’t work out. Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos is not going anywhere.
After that, the prime target for Louis van Gaal appeared to be Valencia’s Argentine centre-back, Nicolas Otamendi.
For his part, Otamendi is did all he could to push things through. He made it abundantly clear that he wants to leave Valencia by the deadline of July 27th. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Sources have told ESPN FC that Louis van Gaal is not pursuing the player and no deal is on the table.
There’s been talk that the Otamendi moving to Manchester narrative was mostly agent-driven anyway; and that the speculated price was very over-inflated. The transfer speculation really ramped up when Otamendi was left out of his team’s promo for their kit launch last month. Many took that as a signal. And it was something that could have been interpreted as a signal. But as of now it just looks like some classic overreaction on a slow news day.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network.Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch his Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram