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Hello and welcome to the Manchester United transfer roundup for the day! Once again, we have another busy day in the rumour mill with Manchester United as there are quite a few stories regarding them.
From their transfer target signing a new deal with his current club to their potential managerial replacement drawing out a list of players that he wants at the club should he be appointed, we have it all!
So, without further ado, let’s begin!
#5 Maguire signs new deal
Manchester United target Harry Maguire has signed a new deal with Leicester City for five years, putting an end to the rumours linking him to the Red Devils – at least for now.
The Old Trafford outfit wanted to sign him in the summer but were priced out of a move by the Foxes. Also, Maguire’s reluctance to force a move away from the club that helped him become an England regular played a role in Jose Mourinho’s team not being able to sign him.
After putting pen to paper, Maguire spoke of the kindness that Leicester have bestowed upon him ever since he joined them. He reiterated the fact that the Foxes gave him a chance to shine in the Premier League after he got relegated with Hull City, which is why he thinks that he owes them “a lot”.
"Ever since I came to this club, I've always reiterated how good they've been to me,” he said.
"They gave me an opportunity to play in the Premier League and built a great platform for me to go and perform at the World Cup, so I thank them a lot.
“I owe them a lot and I'm looking forward to the future."
The 25-year-old joined the King Power Stadium in 2017 after Leicester snapped him up following Hull City’s relegation. At the time, he was voted as Hull’s Player of the Year by both the players and the fans for his performances in the 2016-17 season.
According to the Mirror, his new contract pays him £80000-a-week.
#4 Matuidi
Until this moment, the general consensus was that the only Juventus players that reportedly attracted the interest of Manchester United were Mario Mandzukic and Alex Sandro (and Paulo Dybala, every now and then).
However, Blaise Matuidi is another player that enticed the interest of the Red Devils, at least that is what Calcio Mercato seem to claim. According to the report, Blaise Matuidi was not only on the radar of both Barca and Man United, Juventus were also open to selling him.
But then his performances for France at the World Cup changed Juventus’ mind, which is why he is not only no longer up for sale but the Old Lady are set to offer him a new contract.
#3 Pogba
The Paul Pogba to Barcelona rumours just won’t go away – and that is also exactly what the player himself thinks. The former Juventus man is of the opinion that as long as he is not at the Camp Nou, rumours linking him to the Catalans will continue to exist.
He also added that his relationship with Mourinho is professional and that they have the same goal wherein both want to see their club win matches and, at the grand scheme of things, earn accolades.
“To speak about a transfer… I am under contract. There have always been little things with the coach, our relationship is still the same, manager-player. We have common objectives, which are to win. So long as you see that I am not in a Barcelona shirt, that is because I am at Manchester United, there will always be rumours,” Pogba said.
#2 Varane and Benzema
The initial plan was to have this as the final slider. After all, Don Balon came up with this yesterday and I had pinned it down as the blockbuster rumour of the day. However, another story came out earlier today (more on that in the next slide) and pushed this one place below.
According to the Spanish outlet, the Manchester United board are extremely fed up with Jose Mourinho and want to bring in the former Real Madrid manager as their next coach.
Zidane is interested in taking the job and as a result, has targeted two Madrid players to sign for the Red Devils. One of them is Raphael Varane, who has a release clause of €200 million, and the other is the in-form Karim Benzema, who holds the highest release clause in football of an insane €1 billion.
So, yeah, a lot of hard work is needed to pull that off.
#1 More on Zizou's plans
And then, almost like a clockwork, came the Mirror report. Right after Don Balon broker their story, Mirror did one better by reporting their version of information that seems to be doing the rounds in the mill.
According to their report, Zidane has targeted four players to join him at Manchester United – and two of them have already played for him at Real Madrid. However, this is where the similarities end as Mirror’s version doesn’t include the players that Don Balon had.
The outlet believes that Zidane wants James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos – both currently owned by Madrid and with a €500 million release clause respectively – along with PSG star Edinson Cavani and Bayern midfielder Thiago Alcantara.
If you combined the values of the aforementioned six players (including the Don Balon report), the total worth would easily be over €2 billion, given that four of them have astronomical release clauses.
Ah, fairytales. So beautiful.
