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What's the rumour?
Manchester United have been linked with quite a few Bayern Munich players this summer and with several reports suggesting various things, there was some desperate need for clarity. And now, Bayern Munich have finally broken their silence on the speculation linking United to Thiago Alcantara and Jerome Boateng.
While they've played down the Thiago rumour, they've offered United hope on the Boateng front.
In case you didn't know...
Manchester United were linked with Robert Lewandowski and Thiago Alcantara initially. The Lewandowski rumours had started to die down but London Evening Standard recently claimed that United are considering a move for Jerome Boateng.
The heart of the matter
Thiago Alcantara was rumoured to be waiting for Barcelona to come and pick him up. However, Karl-Heinz Rumenigge has now gone on record and played down all rumours involving Thiago in a press conference today.
“Thiago is an important player for us and we have never once articulated the thought that he should leave the club,” he told Abendzeitung.
“There has never been anything to the story whatsoever.”
But he offered Manchester United hope on the Boateng deal by stating,
“At the moment there is no direct contact between the clubs, but there is contact with the agents – Jerome has two, after all.
“Now we have to wait and see whether at the end of the day we find a basis on which we can agree on a transfer."
“We have to find a transfer fee that would be acceptable for both. In principle, we have enough players at this position, even if Jerome leaves.”
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What's next?
Jerome Boateng has also been linked with PSG. This is altogether bad news for Manchester United as Thiago looks certain to stay in Munich. United already have a surplus of centre-backs in their team - Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Victor Lindelof, Axel Tuanzebe and Timothy Fosu-Mensah.
It doesn't make much sense for them to go ahead and finalize a deal for the 29-year-old Boateng who was in terrible form at the World Cup. But in this crazy transfer market, nobody knows what will unfold.
