Two interesting transfer stories caught my eye this morning while I browsed through the stories relating to rumours surrounding Memphis Depay and his eagerly anticipated summer move.
While the Daily Telegraph claims that the young forward’s representatives have opened talks with Manchester United, the Daily Mirror believes that Depay along with entourage held ‘secret talks’ with Liverpool.
The latter’s report states that Depay jetted to the Manchester airport on Thursday with his advisors Kees Ploegsma and Kees Vos but held talks with Liverpool; meeting the club’s Chief Executive Officer Ian Ayre in a hotel nearby.
However what seems interesting is Carl Thomas, an agent with the SEG Group who represent Depay, tweeted a picture of United’s Carrington training complex on Thursday claiming it was a ‘Nice Day in Manchester’.
Nice day in Manchester pic.twitter.com/aEfPNaevGF
— Tomo (@CarlthomasSEG) April 24, 2015
PSV Eindhoven had earlier stated that they are resigned to lose Depay to the riches of several European giants and have evaluated the young forward at £25m. Taking into account that the local Dutch media are better placed that their English counterparts covering the rumours, the 21 year old is expected to land at Old Trafford.
Voetbal International state that PSV had given Depay the freedom to talk to clubs and they reckon that United have a concrete interest in the player apart from reigning French Champions Paris St’ Germain.
Moreover, Manchester Evening News have quoted PSV manager Phillip Cocu who suggested that Depay would benefit playing for United under Louis Van Gaal. The report also claims that the Old Trafford side are ready to offer Depay a £130,000-a-week contract for his services.
Moreover, it was in fact Van Gaal who brought Depay into the Netherlands squad is regarded as a father-figure by the youngster. Thus Depay would jump at prospect for the player to reunite with his mentor at United next season.
Liverpool too are also interested in Depay but with fading hopes of Champions League Football next term, it will be hard for the Reds to convince him to ditch United and ply his trade in the red half of Merseyside. The £130,000-a-week wage packet is another stumbling block.
While Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson are on £100,000-a-week having signed new contracts, several players could hold far substantially higher wages. This will cause dressing room unrest, something which is least favoured by the Anfield hierarchy.
Thus the prospect of Champions League and the presence of Van Gaal make United the firm favourites to secure the services of one of the hottest young prospects across Europe. The Old Trafford faithful still sing praises about Cristiano Ronaldo but it might not be long before they get a Dutch clone of their own in the summer.
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