manchester united Category
Manchester United football club news, Manchester United transfers, Premier League
Transfer Balls: ‘Dirty Schwein’ Bastian Schweinsteiger joins Manchester United (again)
Transfer Balls: The Daily Mirror says Manchester United are “confident” of signing Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Manchester United are nearing a £7.5million deal for Bayern Munich star Bastian Schweinsteiger, writes Steve Bates in the Sunday People. Old Trafford boss Louis van Gaal is confident he can lure his former player away from the Allianz Arena and transfer negotiator Ed Woodward has been tasked with making it happen.
Is Van Gaal more confident of landing Schweinsteiger than he was last summer?
LOUIS VAN GAAL will turn to Bastian Schweinsteiger to kick-start his Manchester United revolution.
June 12 2014, Independent: “Bastian Schweinsteiger: Manchester United aim for Bayern Munich midfielder as their top summer target”
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 21st, June 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Arsenal bid £28.5m for William Carvalho but Manchester United got him for £37m
Transfer Balls: In an ‘exclusive” The Sun says Arsenal are bidding £28.5m William Carvalho, an Arsenal fan currently playing for Portugal Under-21s
ARSENAL have tabled a fresh £28.5million bid for Sporting Lisbon’s William Carvalho. And the Gunners could get their man if they stump up a further £8.5m in add-ons to trigger the Portugal midfielder’s £37m release clause.
But this is Transfer Balls, a look at rubbish football reporting.
In March 2014, Steve Bates told Sunday People readers that Manchester United had got their man:
TalkSport agreeed. But now the fee was £35m:
The signing of Carvalho, who is set to feature for Portugal in this summer’s World Cup, will be seen as a major coup for under-pressure Red Devils boss Moyes.
That deal never happened.
In April 2015, Jamie Sanderson said Carvalho to Arsenal was a done deal:
Sanderson cited a source:
And amid claims that Sporting have dropped their asking price to £21.5million, the Daily Express says a fee has now been agreed.
In the Express, Anthony Chapman had news:
He writes:
Carvalho was targeted by the Gunners as well as Manchester United and Chelsea in the January transfer window, but the Telegraph claims that Sporting have finally agreed a fee with Arsene Wenger. It is believed that the Primeira Liga outfit were demanding £30m for the 23-year-old, but the two parties have now apparently settled on a more modest £21.5m.
No link. But we found it.
The Telegraph has its own source:
Portugese newspaper O Jogo says negotiations have been continuing, and an agreement is now on the cards, with Sporting ready to sell for £21.5 million.
So there was no agreement at all.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 20th, June 2015 | In: Arsenal, manchester united, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Arsenal and Liverpool target Alvaro Morata’s ‘staggering’ fee used to be higher
Transfer Balls: Is Juventus striker Alvaro Morata heading to Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester United? The Daily Express’ Joe Short finds the fee staggering:
Back in March 2015, the news was not as staggering – which is odd because back then the Express valued Morata at £60m:
Is Morata heading to Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester United for a ‘Staggering’ £58m or a reasonable £60m? No. He’s not.
Of course, Morata already plays for Arsenal. We read that in the Daily Express and its sister organ, the Daily Star:
Such are the facts.
Posted: 15th, June 2015 | In: Arsenal, Liverpool, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Manchester United chase Spurs Harry Kane in every decreasing ciricles
Transfer Balls: time to cacth up with what has been busy transfer window for Spurs and England’s Harry Kane. Sky News has all the scoops:
May 15: “Harry Kane is not a summer transfer target for Manchester United, according to Sky Sports News HQ reporter James Cooper.”
May 26: “Harry Kane has reaffirmed his commitment to Tottenham after reports of interest from Manchester United.”
June 12: “BREAKING: Sky sources: Manchester Utd interested in signing Tottenham’s Harry Kane.”
It’s going to be a long summer of Harry Kane.
Posted: 12th, June 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports, Spurs | Comment
Transfer Balls: Higuain loves Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and topless Chiara, if she’d let him (photos)
Transfer Balls: The Daily Express’ Ben Jefferson tells us “The REAL reason Gonzalo Higuain wants Arsenal, Chelsea or Man Utd move”.
Higuain plays for Napoli. Sun readers think he plays for Arsenal – the Sun declared that Arsenal bought the player for £23m in 2013. You might suppose the “real” reason Higuain wants to play for Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United is because:
a) He loves all three clubs with all this heart
b) He can earn a fortune
c) They are the only three Premier League clubs he’s heard of
d) He thinks Manchester is in London
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 11th, June 2015 | In: Arsenal, manchester united, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Real Madrid pay Casillas to go and make way for Manchester United’s David De Gea
Transfer Balls: who will be in goal for Arsenal next season? The Evening Standard reports that Arsenal are watching Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas.
The Times says Casillas will leave Real giants this summer after 25 years with the club – he’s been there since he was nine.
And that means Real getting a clearer run at Manchester United’s David De Gea.
Indeed, so keen are Real to get rid of Casillas they will top up whatever pay he earns at a new club to match his curent earnings.
De Gea is on his way.
Posted: 11th, June 2015 | In: Arsenal, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Manchester United agree to buy Chelsea’s Nicolas Otamendi from Valencia
Transfer Balls – a look at dire football reporting. The Daily Express says Manchester United have “BID” for Nicolas Otamendi.
The story of the Valencia player begins:
Manchester United are readying a £35million bid to sign Nicolas Otamendi, according to the Daily Mirror.
To the Mirror, then, where David Anderson has news:
We learn:
Otamendi is understood to have told Valencia of his desire to leave, with the Spanish club determined to receive their full valuation for the centre-back.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 10th, June 2015 | In: manchester united, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Who Ate All The Pies: Manchester United Offer XXXXL Sizes Of New Kit
As of next season, Manchester United shirts are available in XXXXL.
The complaints were first made about United’s less-than-generous shirts while Nike were in power in Old Trafford, but the company believed there wouldn’t be enough demand for super-sized shirts and therefore refused to put them into production.
However, Adidas have since taken up the reigns and have agreed to produce a limited run of 4XL versions of their new 2015/16 shirt on a trial basis to test the waters.
As a result, a set number of 4XL jerseys will be available to order from the Old Trafford megastore when the kit officially goes on sale in August/September.
United will then monitor the sales and, if the demand is there, the shirts will become a permanent fixture in the range.
As it happens, United will become only the third Premier League club of offer shirts in size 4XL along with Newcastle and Tottenham, with the latter going one better and announcing that their new 2015/16 home shirt will be available in sizes right up to 5XL.
Here is said Spurs shirt, just to give you an idea of scale…
Anyway, we kind of sympathise with the United fans on this one.
Football shirt sizings have definitely become increasingly stingy over the past 10 years or so, with ever-thinning material and a misguided propensity for ‘athletic’ cuts also not playing into the hands of the average lumpy football fan (a category we most definitely fall in to).
Posted: 10th, June 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Manchester United tricked by The Metro and Daily Star’s Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema Bilge
Transfer Balls – a look at the twilight world for football journalism. Today The Metro says that Manchester United were “in transfer talks for Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane”.
Wow! Would Real Madrid really sell four of their players to Manchester United?
Writes Jamie Sanderson:
United have significant cash to spend this summer and the Daily Star claims contact has been made with Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane.
Over to the Daily Star, then, where we learn:
Manchester United in contact with Real Madrid over AMAZING QUADRUPLE raid – MANCHESTER UNITED have made contact with Real Madrid for FOUR of their world-class stars.
Colin Harvey writes:
Spanish paper AS report that the Red Devils have spoken to Real over potential moves for Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane.
Over on AS we are told by Tomas Roncero:
Manchester United are looking to rebuild after finishing fourth in the Premier League, behind, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal. According to information that AS has secured, United officials have requested contractual details of a number of current Real Madrid players including Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano, along with French defender, Raphael Varane.
The answer from the Bernabéu has been a resounding negative on all four cases.
About those transfer talks, Jamie…
Posted: 9th, June 2015 | In: manchester united, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Manchester United lost £50m in Pogba, Morgan Schneiderlin and Ilkay Gundogen horror show
The Metro’s Jamie Sanderson has news that Manchester United and Morgan Schneiderlin have reached an agreement.
The inference is surely that Southampton’s French star is leaving the Saints for Old Trafford, Ilkay Gundogen is on his way and United are bidding for Pogba, a player who has already left them for a great career at Juventus.
Says Sanderson:
Manchester United are set to be one of the busiest clubs in the transfer market this summer. The club have £100million to splash on new players, and, after confirming the signing of Memphis Depay, are looking for other options.
£100m. But just one earlier the Metro told us that Manchester United had £150 in the kitty:
That budget is falling fast in The Metro.
Untroubled by reporting in his own apper, Sanderson ploughs on.
And if these rumours are true, it won’t be long before new players join him.
IF!
Schneiderlin is believed to have agreed terms with United despite strong links with Arsenal this summer.
Believed by whom?
IF!
United were reported two weeks ago to have finalised an agreement to bring in Gundogan from Borrusia Dortmund.
But they didn’t. Those reports were wrong.
IF!
United have made no secret of the fact they’re keen to bring Pogba back to Old Trafford. And they’re now doing something about it, with claims suggesting a £60.6million bid is about to go in to get him signed up.
Or as The Metro put it one day ago:
Such are the facts in The Metro, now rivalling the Daily Express and Daily Star as the biggest sources of utter Transfer Balls in the game.
Posted: 5th, June 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: David De Gea’s girlfriend is handling Real Madrid’s transfers in The Metro
Transfer Balls: Stella work in The Metro. In a story headline “Manchester United stopper David de Gea is in Madrid to complete transfer to Real Madrid”,
George Bellshaw writes an early contener for our Golden Turd award for football reporting:
Manchester United stopper David de Gea is in the Spanish capital to reportedly complete his transfer to Real Madrid.
He adds:
The Spaniard is hoping that the two clubs can agree a fee so that he can negotiate his move back to Spain, according to ABC.
We looked at Spanish newspaper ABC’s website. (Unless he’s talking about ABC (USA) or ABC (Aus)? He never says.) We found no word from De Gea expressing his hope for a move to Spain, nor any word of his being in Madrid to sign for Madrid.
Back at The Metro and we are told:
Of course, the keeper is from Madrid and his girlfriend lives there so he does have good reason to be there.
Of course. Either she’s Real Madrid’s chief negotiator or the story is utter balls.
Such are the facts…
Posted: 2nd, June 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Arsenal sign Artuto Vidal for less than half what Manchester United bought him for
Transfer Balls: Is Arturo Vidal heading to Arsenal from Juventus? It was only a yer ago the tabloids told us that Vidal had signed for Manchester United for £47m, £45m, £40m and £62m. He didn’t sign. But now he’s riding high on the news cycle all over again. And the Daily Express has the scoops:
On May 27, the Express told us: “Reports have linked Vidal with a £25m move to the Emirates this summer.”
What reports?
Well, the Daily Express told us that: “JUVENTUS have told Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United that they will have to fork out £28million to land Arturo Vidal this summer.”
So that £25m is not enough.
On May 25, there was no news in the Express – and there would no news until the Copa America had ended:
And that was deflating for Gunners fans keen on the Chilean player because a few days earlier the Express had told them that Vidal was an Arsenal player. It was a done deal.
That Express story was based on a report in the Standard, which told us:
Juventus star Arturo Vidal appears to be on the Gunners wish-list.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 28th, May 2015 | In: Arsenal, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls masterclass: Manchester United In £157m Bid For Real Madrid’s Ronaldo And Bale
Transfer Balls spots a human centipede of balls in the tabloids. The story in The Metro is that Manchester United are going to buy – get this – Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Metro’s website puts a figure on what would be the worst transfer in Real Madrid’s history:
Manchester United are reportedly plotting a shock £157.3million transfer raid on Real Madrid for Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Red Devils are determined to win the Premier League next season and believe the duo can earn them the title.
Well, if those boffins at Old Trafford think two of the world’s top half dozen players could help them to the Premier League title, who are we to argue? But how does The Metro know this, what’s its souce?
…Bale, 25, is set for an £85.8m move while Ronaldo would cost £71.5m, according to the Star.
We circle the tabloid plughole and head over to the Daily Star, where news is:
Manchester United are considering a sensational £157m double raid on Real Madrid, according to reports.
Whose reports?
The Metro claim the Red Devils are readying bids for Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale as they look to bring the superstars back to the Premier League.
Back to The Metro, then.
Continues forever.
Posted: 23rd, May 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United bid £157m for Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo in endless loop of balls
Transfer Balls spots a human centipede of balls in the tabloids. The story in The Metro is that Manchester United are going to buy – get this – Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Metro’s website puts a figure on what would be the worst transfer in Real Madrid’s history:
Manchester United are reportedly plotting a shock £157.3million transfer raid on Real Madrid for Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Red Devils are determined to win the Premier League next season and believe the duo can earn them the title.
Well, if those boffins at Old Trafford think two of the world’s top half dozen players could help them to the Premier League title, who are we to argue? But how does The Metro know this, what’s its souce?
…Bale, 25, is set for an £85.8m move while Ronaldo would cost £71.5m, according to the Star.
We circle the tabloid plughole and head over to the Daily Star, where news is:
Manchester United are considering a sensational £157m double raid on Real Madrid, according to reports.
Whose reports?
The Metro claim the Red Devils are readying bids for Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale as they look to bring the superstars back to the Premier League.
Back to The Metro, then.
Continues forever.
Posted: 22nd, May 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Manchester United mock Liverpool with Raheem Sterling broadcast
The Times’ story that Manchester United have asked Liverpool about their willingness to sell Raheem Sterling has been replayed throughout the mainstream media.
But the news is thin.
The Times‘ leads sports story begins and ends with United asking Liverpool “for an indication of how much it would cost to buy the unsettled 20-year-old”.
It was only yesterday we learned that Manchester City had valued Sterling at £40million and 150,000-a-week in wages – that offer following weeks of news that the player was worth anything up to £50million.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 21st, May 2015 | In: Liverpool, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Chelsea get Paul Pogba for less than half Manchester City paid for him in March
How much is Paul Pogba worth to Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and any other club keen on the Juventus and France midfielder? This month the Daily Express has been filling its readers in with the facts.
Pogba is worth £80m to Manchester City:
Pogba is worth £70m to Chelsea.
Pogba is now going to cost Manchester City £43m.
According to the Express, Pogba’s value has halved in just over a week. And to think way back in March Pogba was worth £100m.
Give it a few weeks and Pogba will be free.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 20th, May 2015 | In: Chelsea, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United: watch Louis van Gaal sing about Louis Van Gaal
What with Manchester United tying up a return to the Champions League with their 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Sunday, there was a distinct levity around Old Trafford after the match as the team waved goodbye for another year (their final fixture being away at Hull City).
Obviously the festivities duly continued underneath the terraces, with Louis van Gaal emerging later that evening to sign a few autographs and have a little sing-song with the United fans outside.
With supporters chanting “Louis van Gaal’s Red Army!” as the United coach scribbled away, the Dutchman suddenly let out an loud and slightly slurred rendition of his eponymous chant – much to the amusement of everybody in earshot…
So was he a bit skewiff on the old sozzle pop?
Well, yes, it would appear that LVG enjoys a nip of Chateauneuf-du-Pape just as much as one of his predecessors famously did…
@BeardedGenius he had a few glasses of red he’s was in top form I was there pic.twitter.com/wkpnZzemya
— Simon Graham (@sgraham626) May 18, 2015
What a hero.
(Via Joe)
Posted: 18th, May 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Watch Manchester United’s Phil Jones tackle Arsenal’s Giroud with his face
Manchester United’s Phil Jones will now slide tackle Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud using his face.
Phil Jones summed up in one video. pic.twitter.com/WiocBFZa8d
— FootyHumour (@FootyHumour) May 17, 2015
It’s what hi-def slow motion was made for.
Spotter: Pies
Posted: 17th, May 2015 | In: Arsenal, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Gareth Bale’s money men seduce Manchester United
Gareth Bale wants to leave Real Madrid, reports the Sunday Times. The paper says Bale is “angling” for a return to the Premier League. And only Manchester United, Manchester City or Chelsea could afford him. Why? Well, we learn:
The Welshman’s representatives have promised to bring the Madrid president, Florentino Perez, a profit on the £85m his club paid Tottenham for Bale two summers ago should he sanction a deal.
How can they promise a fee that has yet to be offered? This is surely just the agent telling everyone in a stage whisper that if the price is right, Bale is their man.
But what is Bale worth now he’s no longer as confident as he was at Spurs? We learn that the affable and professional has struggled to bond with his Real teammates; has failed to master the langauge (not a bad thing given the Spanish verbal assault the ‘cabron’ has been subjected to by Madrid’s monocular Press and fans); and is unhappy with life in Madrid. If true, those are hardly qualities that strengthen Madrid’s hand in transfer dealings.
Buying Bale for in excess of his world-record fee would represent a huge punt. And it was only last week the Sunday Times was telling readers that Bale is “identified by Perez as a figurehead when Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer so dominant”.
A week can be a long time in the fickle world of Spanish football…
Posted: 17th, May 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United: Losing David De Gea Shows How Weak The Team Is
Manchester United’s David de Gea continues to dither over a new £200,000-a-week contact (well, so says the Times; the same contract is valued at £140,000-a-week in the Daily Mirror).
The Daily Telegraph says Manchester United are making moves for De Gea’s replacement, and Chelsea’s Peter Cech is in the frame.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 16th, May 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United: Chris Smalling, a burning hot tub and naked barbecuing
The story is that Manchester United and England’s Chris Smalling’s garden hot tub caught fire. The Sun says Smalling wasn’t at his Bowdon, Altrincham, home at the time. The fire was spotted by a passing police car.
Bit odd, no? Police see smoke coming from a garden and rather than thinking it a bonfire or barbecue, enter the premises to check it out.
The officers were dousing the flames with a garden hose when firefighters arrived to finish the job.
No word from Smalling on the incident, but he did post this photo on Instagram of him watching the Champions’ League and playing poker with a Dyson vacuum cleaner, which seems to have a face:
Might it be that with Mario Balotelli likely to leave Liverpool and, very possibly, English football, Smalling is making his pitch to be the footballer most likely to become the celebrity face of the Fireworks Code?
Addendum 1: Never return to a lit hot tub.
Addendum 2: Avoid naked barbcueing
Posted: 13th, May 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Paul Pogba pays less tax at Manchester United (and never left Manchester United)
Transfer Balls spots Paul Pogba news. Manchester City are celebrating a Tory win in the General Election by offering Paul Pogba £250,000 per week – net – to pick them (top rate of tax: 40%), Real Madrid (tax optional, allegedly), Chelsea, Barcelona (tax?) Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain (top rate: 75%)
But Real might pull out because “they are concerned about his private life”. Well, so say the Express, which adds:
“Until a year ago [Pogba] lived with his mother, he doesn’t come out at night and yes, he’s very religious,” Real chief Florentino Perez is quoted as saying by football news outlet Football Espana.
Real are concerned he’s not getting out enough?
The Express is such an bizarre news source, unable to explain even its own headlines. The facts are, as ever, thin.
And fans of clubs other than Manchester City should realise that until Pogba signs, nothing is done. After all, as Sky Sports told us in 2012, Pogba had committed his future to Manchester United.
And then he left.
Posted: 11th, May 2015 | In: Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer Balls: Radamel Falcao competes with De Gea to be Manchester United’s ‘keeper
Transfer balls: The Metro has news on Manchester United and Radamel Falcao:
Manchester United preparing £43.2million permanent transfer for Monaco’s Radamel Falcao
Tom Olver reports:
Louis van Gaal, however, may be willing to spend £43.2million to buy him outright in the summer, after Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev revealed United have not ruled out the transfer.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 6th, May 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Manchester United Balls: In 8 seasons Angel Di Maria has played just 113 times
This is a statistic to make you take notice: Manchester United’s most expensive player, Angel Di Maria, has only played 113 matches. No. Not 113 matches for Real Madrid or Manchester United. He’s only played 113 first team matches since July 1 2007, when he joined Benfica.
And in 38 of those matches Di Maria came on as a substitute.
Di Maria is 27, cost £60m and is showing signs of fatigue….
Posted: 4th, May 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment (1)
Transfer balls: Paul Pogba ‘accepts’ PSG offer, wants Chelsea and tempts Manchester United
Transfer Balls: it’s going to be busy summer of chatter for Juventus star Paul Pogba, 22.
The Mirror says Manchester City and Manchester United will have to create a new British transfer record if they want to sign Pogba. This isn’t simply Pogba’s agent talking up his client; it’s a a fact because the Mirror says Paris St-Germain have offered £60m for the France international. And that’s more than the £59.7m Manchester United paid for Angel di Maria.
And then there are the wages. The Mirror says PSG have offered Pogba £320,000-a-week.
The Mirror then says that Manchester United don’t want Pogba. They’re after Gareth Bale and “ready to tempt Real Madrid with a £100m offer”.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 4th, May 2015 | In: Chelsea, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment
