With the exception of Belarus, South Korea and starting today, Germany, global football is currently suspended. The Premier League has been given the all clear by the government to restart after June 1, behind closed doors, and with that in mind, teams are now training awhile adhering to social distancing guidelines.
However, there are still plenty of questions to be answered when it comes to Project Restart, and we’ll learn more this week as meetings are held and votes taken. Until football returns, we still have plenty of news items to cover. For today’s MUFC transfer rumor round-up go here.
For today’s second set of MUFC transfer rumors go here.
United winger Daniel James has given his verdict on who he believes United’s most technically gifted player is. It will definitely surprise you, as it’s not Paul Pogba; nor is it Bruno Fernandes. Not Anthony Martial either.
“I think just from being such an idol from when I was young I’d have to say Juan (Mata),” he told Soccer AM (transcript Metro) when asked to name United’s best player.
“I think what he’s done over his career I’ve always looked up to him as a player and meeting him personally he’s such a nice guy.”
“Ball control, everything is just amazing. He does stuff in training and you’re like “how’s he done that?” He’s got eyes in the back of his head. I’d say so (the best player technically). There’s obviously a lot of good players, Bruno coming in, Paul.”
“So many it’s hard to pick from all of them.”
In terms of who United’s best around player is right now, many would say Marcus Rashford. In terms of the nicest guy/most upstanding citizen, Juan Mata always comes to mind first, and we did see James mention that.
In sticking with the “this guy’s the best of anyone in this group” theme, Aaron Wan-Bissaka is the best right back in England, says his former Crystal Palace teammate, Patrick van Aanholt.
He’s better than Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, or anyone else “without a shadow of a doubt,” says PVA. 90 Min has more.
For our final item we turn towards the much maligned Jesse Lingard. While his scoring touch has been way off for quite some time, his views on the big picture in our extremely abnormal world are right on point.
A few players have expressed concern about football coming back too soon, before it’s safe to do so. Lingard is one. (Many others have these same concerns, but haven’t spoken up about it yet)
“I think it’s about taking the right steps and the right procedures, just to make sure that everyone is safe,” Lingard told ESPN.
“We need to go back when it’s safe. Obviously, everyone is missing football. It’s been a long time and I know a lot of people are getting agitated.”
“It’s about following the right protocol and making sure everyone is healthy and safe.”
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.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.