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EPL giants Manchester United have long admired Atletico Madrid ace Saúl Ñíguez. United star Paul Pogba's future has been in up in the air for a considerable while now and Saúl has always been mooted as his replacement.
The Spaniard is one of the most complete midfielders in all of Europe and it isn't surprising to see a club like United target him. His agent Jonathan Barnett, however, has rubbished any such reports linking his client to the EPL club. The superagent who also manages Real Madrid star Gareth Bale said that it is 'journalists trying to write things' regarding Saúl.
Saúl a target for EPL's elite
In an exclusive interview with SportsWitness, Barnett spoke candidly about United's rumoured interest in the Spaniard. He spoke highly of Saúl and said that he shares an excellent bond with Los Colcheneros. Barnett began,
“Somebody like Saul doesn’t need anybody to push him. He’s so good and everybody knows that and they know a lot of clubs want him. But he’s already at a very big club. He has a very good relationship with Atletico Madrid and Atletico fans.”
He continued by saying that such speculation is normal and journalists write about stories such as this more often than not. Barnett reserved harsh words for the section of the press for fabricating these stories, saying,
“Every good player is linked with another club. Some agents may want to do that and if they need the press to do something, then they are not very good at their job. It’s journalist trying to write things. It may be true or may not be true, but it’s something we as an agency at Stellar don’t really get involved in.”
Barnett speaks on EPL star Dan James
Barnett's sports agency Stellar Group also represents several EPL stars including Jack Grealish, Ben Chilwell, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, and others. He negotiated Daniel James' move from Swansea City to Manchester United last summer. However, this move only materialised after a failed transfer to former EPL side Leeds United.
Speaking on the move that fell through, Barnett commented,
“I think people have to realise that each person is different. He [Daniel James] is clever, he knows how it is. Some deals work out, some deals don’t.”
Barnett insisted that the move didn't work out for a number of reasons, although denying to reveal further information about the same. The EPL star's agent continued,
“At that time, it just didn’t work out for many reasons. You can’t blame anybody. He knows that if one door closes, another door opens. That’s why he has people like ourselves and we are good at that.”
Daniel James had an impressive start to life at Old Trafford. The Welshman arrived with little expectation in his first season in the EPL but has scored three goals and six assists in the league so far.
Former EPL and Man United icon Ryan Giggs claimed that James is one of the fastest ever players he's seen. The Welsh national team manager worked with James on the international front and was said to have recommended him to the Red Devils.
