Welcome to the heights (or depths) of the summer silly season, as the major international tournaments are now over. It’s all preseason friendlies and transfer window talk for the next month, until the season begins. Let’s take a look at the latest narratives churning in the Arsenal transfer rumor mill.
For the most part, it’s been a dreadully boring this transfer window, but United are the club who completed the biggest splash signing, in getting Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. Both clubs made their official statements on the completion of that deal yesterday.
With Sancho in the fold, the next order of business is getting something in return for Paul Pogba, who has turned down a new United contract offer, one that came with a significant raise. It looks like his second stint at the club is in the 11th hour, so Old Trafford must deal him now, or risk letting him go for nothing next summer.
With United having a disadvantaged position, from a bargaining stand point, Paris Saint-Germain can be confident in getting the midfield maestro at a cut rate.
According to The Telegraph, PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino believes “a bid of up to €50m (£43m) for Pogba could be enough to persuade United to sell. Pogba’s future at United has been the subject of debate since the summer of 2018, when he wanted to move to Barcelona, and he has subsequently been of interest to Real Madrid and Juventus.”
? Paris Saint-Germain fans put up an anti-Paul Pogba banner outside the Parc des Princes – "Pogba you should listen to your mother, she doesn’t want you here. Neither do we!" [@RMCsport via @GFFN] pic.twitter.com/inDsdfQs9i
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) July 24, 2021
PSG are certainly the champions of this summer transfer window thus far, and if they can pull off Pogback to his native land, the analogies between Pogba and Angel Di Maria will be even more apt.
The Mirror has more on this developing situation. So once Pogba is gone, who do you replace him with? Rennes’ Eduardo Camavinga has been linked, although he is a rather different kind of midfielder. According to TalkSPORT, it could be Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka, who is set to see his current deal expire in less than a year.
United already bought a player from one half of the Der Klassiker rivalry, why not make the next acquisition a footballer from the other team in the German El Clasico. Bild report that Goretzka’s camp is ‘irritated’ with the lack of progress over a potential new deal.
According to reports, United have offered Goretzka a £200,000-a-week contract to move over and help reinforce their midfield.
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.
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