Manchester United, along with the rest of most global football, are off indefinitely, but there are still plenty of news items, related to the club, circulating on the internet today. There is a plan for the Premier League to potentially return to action on June 13, and play matches behind closed doors in neutral venues.
The first phases of so-called “Project Restart” are underway, but there are of course, lots of obstacles to be overcome, the plan has encountered some push back and a whole lot could change between now at the time targeted for starting up again. The next meeting, on May 8, will be extremely critical, and we’ll know more then.
In the meantime, please check out our all United transfer rumor starting XI and our optimal United XI with top transfer targets acquired and key players retained. For today’s MUFC transfer rumors round-up go here.
Today we start with former full back Matteo Darmian, now with Parma, giving some extremely high praise to United’s leading scorer Marcus Rashford. The Italian international believes Rash will be challenging Kylian Mbappe for Ballon d’Or awards in the future.
Someone will have to step up as the heir apparent and replace the duopoly of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I still remember Marcus Rashford’s first session with the senior squad like it was yesterday,” he told The Guardian.
“I immediately thought: ‘Wow, this is an incredible player.’
Rashford is reportedly nearing full fitness, and should be ready for action if/when it resumes. The same can be said for midfielder Paul Pogba, a footballer who is an absolute lightning rod for criticism. Darmian vocally defended the Frenchman later in the interview.
“He did so many impressive things for a player of his age and the way he improved in every detail really impressed me. If he continues to work the way he has done so far he can be a Ballon d’Or winner,” Darmian continued.
“I’m convinced of this. He impressed me the most of all the players at United and he’s very young and can still improve. For me he can reach the level of Kylian Mbappe and compete for the Ballon d’Or for years to come.”
“There has been a lot of unjustified criticism towards Pogba, for example that he doesn’t work hard enough, but he always gave his best, I can assure you, in every training session,” he added.
“In my opinion his performances were good in recent years, they talk about him too negatively [in the UK].”
“Did I see Pogba unhappy or willing to leave? No, I honestly didn’t see him sad or unhappy, quite the opposite, for all the time I was in Manchester, Paul was absolutely happy with his decision to go back there. He really cares about doing well at Manchester United.”
Elsewhere, Marcos Rojo, currently on loan with Estudiantes in his native Argentina, has defied lockdown ordinances. He wasn’t so much “caught” because his family just put it out there for the whole internet to see.
His brother posted video of his violating quarantine orders on social media. The Daily Mail has more on Rojo playing cards and smoking with his friends. His brother Franco quickly deleted the vid from Instagram stories, but the damage was already done.
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 contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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