Manchester United are off until a week from tonight, when they’ll face LASK in the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie. However, this is no slow news day, with plenty of news related to the summer transfer window, so let’s just dive right in.
United club legend Ryan Giggs believes that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will receive some strong backing in the window this summer, and that CEO Ed Woodward will get three transfers over the line for him between now and when the window closes.
Giggsy believes that finishing third and making the UCL for next year conveys that OGS is on the right track, and that the added revenue from playing in Europe will boost recruiting efforts.
“It’s huge for attracting players,” Giggs told Premier League Productions. “Some players will choose clubs that are in the Champions League.
“And [it helps] in holding on to some players too. It’s just huge. Eventually when we get crowds back, Champions League nights at Old Trafford are special. Ole’s beginning to mould a team which is exciting. He said that they were running out of legs a little bit.”
“After lockdown, he’s played the same team more or less, which he had to because they’re on such a good run – so it was hard to chop and change.”
“They need three players I would say that can go into the starting XI, even to challenge for the league and the Champions League next year.”
In terms of those three players/deals, obviously it starts with Jadon Sancho, the top target. We covered the latest news on the pursuit of the Borussia Dortmund winger on Monday.
If not Sancho, then Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish could be the first player acquired this summer.
They also need depth at left back and central defense.
Switching from potentially inbound to someone likely outbound, Inter Milan want to take the loan deal they have for Alexis Sanchez, the biggest flop in United history, and make it a permanent one. Given that the Chilean is not at all in OGS’ plans, this would work out for all involved, but there is a caveat of course- his massive salary.
It is “thought to be around £400,000 a week,” says Simon Stone of the BBC, who writes that the Serie A side will only take him if they can get that significantly reduced.
The 31-year-old is currently out of their price range right now.
Finally, Jesse Lingard, much maligned by many a United fan, has really opened up on Instagram. Read this and you’ll definitely more sympathetic to him.
“This season has been difficult for so many reasons,” Lingard wrote in a post on his Instagram account yesterday.
“I lost who I was as a player and person, but I never wanted to give up, I knew who I really was on and off the pitch and knew that having been there before I could get there again.”
“This meant working harder than I’d ever done before and trusting in those around me that they knew how to best help me achieve that.”
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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