Do Manchester United, fresh off the world record breaking acquisition of Harry Maguire, have one last major summer transfer move left in them? If so, they only have about 50 hours to make it happen, and it could be Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen.
Not the biggest area of need (United would best be served by focusing on the defensive centre of the park instead), but the Danish playmaker has been linked with a move to United for awhile. He’s also openly talk this summer about leaving the north London club.
His top/preferred destination was Real Madrid, but it didn’t happen.
Both 90 Min and the Daily Mail, among many other outlets, say United are pursuing/feel confident of getting this deal over the line in time.
Elsewhere, what’s the latest on Romelu Lukaku? That transfer saga has very tedious and protracted for an extremely long time already, but Monday brought another plot twist; which persisted into Tuesday. Lukaku has yet to feature for United this summer, and there were portions of the preseason tour in which the Belgian even refused to travel with the team.
Now he’s not even training with the club, as he’s instead working out with his former club Anderlecht.
Day 2 of a transfer soap: Romelu Lukaku is still training with Anderlecht today. With Man United refusing to comment.
?? https://t.co/eXr2HmWnvd#mufc pic.twitter.com/6veq9kO2iP
— Kristof Terreur (@kristofterreur) August 6, 2019
This is bizarre to say the least, and thus far, United have refused to publicly comment on it.
Speaking of bizarre, or at least unexpected, 33-year-old Wayne Rooney has signed an initial 18-month contract with the English second-tier team Derby County in a player-coach role. The deal was done and announced seemingly overnight, as Rooney will play out the rest of the Major League Soccer season and then arrive at Derby on January 1.
“I am very excited about the opportunity that Derby County have provided me with,” Rooney said. “I am looking forward to joining Phillip Cocu, his coaching staff and the first-team squad from the start of January.”
“I am sure I can make a big contribution and can’t wait to meet everyone, especially the supporters. I am equally excited to begin my coaching career at Derby County working with both the first team and Academy.”
“I must also take this opportunity to thank DC United, their owners, executives and supporters who have been superb to work with. I want them to know that I will give my all in support of our push for the play-offs.”
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 appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.