With the season over for Manchester United, fans can now look forward to new signings and the possibility of a major coup.
Unfortunately, it’s too soon to talk about big signings, so this week (like last time), we’ll talk about rumours that most likely won’t happen (and one that just doesn’t end).
1. The biggest news coming out of the weekend was not that Bayern and Manchester United had agreed to a 17m deal (we’ve heard enough of those to last us a while), but that Marseille had qualified for the Champions League.
Good for Marseille, I say, but not so good for Manchester United. Marseille’s asking price for Ribery is now expected to hit 20m at least, and they know that Madrid and Bayern, amongst others, want their player. Like Lyon with Essien and Diarra, Marseille are not going to back down easily, which makes it that much harder for Manchester United to bring the player in.
In effect, we could just have been priced out of a deal for Ribery (unless we’re already talking to the club).
2. Like I said above, Bayern and Manchester United have apparently signed a 17m deal for Owen Hargreaves. The timing’s right, but it’s again a case of wanting it to happen so badly that you can’t trust your gut instincts. I’ll believe it when I hear something from United / Owen, although if it is happening the next we’ll hear about it is when Owen gets here for the medical and all that.
3. The speculation on Michael Owen leaving Newcastle is so great that many Geordies have turned against their own player (see comments in this article). I don’t think Owen’s going anywhere until he has one full injury-free season at Newcastle, but quite honestly if he’s available for 9m I’d love to have him at United.
He’s not coming though – and it’s a possibility that if he was to go, he might just be waiting for Liverpool to come calling.
4. Nani’s reportedly signed a new deal, but considering that there are zero sources here and all the news we’ve heard is a copy-pasted version of a translated Spanish story (IMO), there’s little to it. From what I know (admittedly not too much), Manchester United are still talking to Sporting and one way or the other we’ll know more in the next month or so.
That’s it for today folks – remember to head over to the man utd blog for more news.
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