With the exception of Belarus, South Korea and now, Germany, global football is currently suspended. The Premier League has been given the all clear by the government to restart in June, behind closed doors. United resumed training this week, albeit in small groups only.
There are still plenty of question marks when it comes to Project Restart, but confidence remains high that we’ll have the season back again. Until football actually returns, we still have plenty of transfer news items to cover. So let’s take a spin through the United rumor mill in cyberspace.
For today’s MUFC news and notes round-up go here. We start with the latest on Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez, a long time transfer target.
According to a report in Spanish outlet Todo Fichajes, he could become United’s first signing of the summer. The Manchester Evening News translated the story and the outlet claims a deal is “practically done” at a price around £70 million.
With Saul’s release clause reportedly about £130 million, this narrative seems a bit far fetched, to say the least. Yes, footballer valuations will be likely be down across the board this transfer window, and yes, Atletico are looking to raise funds this summer, but this scenario still sounds implausible.
A price cut of nearly half? I don’t know about that.
Elsewhere Bayer Leverkusen striker Kai Havertz, 20, continues to show the world why all the big clubs are keen on him.
Bagging a brace against Borussia Monchengladbach, he now has now scored six times and registered three assists during his past half-dozen appearances.
Reportedly, valued at around €100 million, he’s wanted by United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, pretty much everybody in the big six, now that Manchester City have also now entered the fray. That’s according to The Sun today.
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.