HERE ARE THE good, the bad and unlikely football moves being talked about today.
Manchester United are believed to be nearing a €105m deal to bring Paul Pogba back to the club.The squad numbers for the coming season have yet to be confirmed and it is thought that is related to their plans for Pogba.
Celtic are believed to be moving closer to signing Ireland international Shane Duffy from Blackburn Rovers as manager Brendan Rodgers looks to deal with a defensive injury crisis.
Stoke City have reportedly made a £20m (€24m) bid for West Brom striker Saido Berahino with Crystal Palace also supposedly interested in the 22-year-old.
France U21 international Georges-Kevin N’Koudou in reportedly undergoing a medical at Tottenham today after the north London club agreed a £10.8m (€12.9m) fee for the forward.
Everton are believed to be keen on signing Portugal international William Carvalho with Ronald Koeman prepared to spend £30m (€36m) on the Sporting midfielder.
Iceland winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson has become Burnley’s first close-season signing after joining from Charlton Athletic for an undisclosed fee.
Middlesbrough are on the verge on signing former Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo from Valencia in a season-long loan deal.
Leicester City have put a minimum price tag of £45m (€54m) on Riyad Mahrez and insist they are confident the Algerian will stay at the club.
Arsenal have reportedly had a £2m (€2.4m) bid accepted for Bolton and England U21 defender Rob Holding.
Arsene Wenger is also believed to be weighing up a £10m (€12m) move for Manchester City defender Jason Denayer and £12m (Borussia Dortmund centre-half Matthias Ginter (€14m).
Retro Deal of the Day
Twenty-three years ago today Roy Keane was unveiled as a Manchester United player following his record-breaking move from Nottingham Forest.
Alex Ferguson swooped in on the Corkonian just as he appeared to be on his way to Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn Rovers. The move just had to be signed off on the Monday morning.
But Ferguson persuaded Keane to call around to his house for a game of snooker on the Saturday, just 24 hours after the midfielder had told Dalglish he’d be moving to Ewood Park. And after a powerful discussion about their respective appetites for success, oh to be a fly on the wall that afternoon, there was only one place the Ireland international was going.
While United and Rovers won the next two Premier League titles between them, Keane must have been delighted that he reneged on the handshake agreement with Dalglish as he got his hands on seven league titles, four FA Cups and a Champions League medal in his 12 and a half years at Old Trafford.
Rovers, of course, were relegated in 1999.
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Duffy to celtic he’d be better off to stay in the championship it would be a better test for him and make him a better player.
Tell that to the players who couldn’t cut it in the SPL and went to the championship.
like who?
Off the top of my head, Glenn Loovens, Jos Hoiveld, Ross McCormick, Ross Wallace, Daryl Murphy, David Marshall, Danny Fox, Lee Naylor. And plenty more, there’s about 50-60 scots playing in the championship. Most of whom weren’t good enough for their Scottish clubs. you can do the research on the rest if you’re interested. Quite a few more foreign players also.
If it turns out to be another Saga like Ramos to united I won’t be surprised.
United take in more on revenue per month than they will have have outlayed all summer inc. Pogba if it happens. The price does not affect you or me so why should we care? I only care about the strength of the squad and it will only improve with Pogba there.
Jason Denayer 12 million…seriously? Did you not watch him at the euros Wenger???
Why are players like Jason Denayer being bought for that sort of money when they are not capable of even basic defending? I thought that was a defenders job???
He did but he’s in Denayel
Both great pun and very true!
Must bring Ed Woodward to the races next week…loves throwing money away
Yes Kobe the same Woodward that was responsible for the Chevrolet and Adidas deals that have yet to be match by any other football club on the planet
Yes David, and his signings have been so inspiring to date.
His signing ???? Do you think he picks the players to buy yea ya tool
Commercially, ed Woodward is amazing. He’d get his pants sponsored for mega money if he wanted.
Football-wise, dealing with agents and other clubs for transfers, he’s a small fish, in a large shark pool, regularly left with his pants down. He’s missed out on loads of quality players through this lack of cop-in.
100+ million is a despicable amount of money to pay for any player, never mind Pogba.
105m another fine mess up by Ferguson leaving him go for free
I’m not a UTD fan, but their signing of the season has been Mkhitaryan. Superb player who will deliver for them for the next few years. Pogba could be hit or miss, doesn’t get on the ball enough. But Mkhitaryan is the real deal.
Duffy is better off at Blackburn, SPL is dead I’m sorry to say.
Well if it goes through, that’s their season , in ribbons, built on stupidity like that , I’d say even the most ardent supporters are bracing themselves for the now , obligatory slagging. Someone is getting well greased in Manchester on this one .
As a ardent supporter Gerry I couldnt care less , its not my money and its not like they are blowing the entire summer budget on one player now is it .
Utd haven’t even spent their reported summer transfer budget even if the Pogba deals goes through.
Ah here , opening bid of 87 mil, twill slope on to around 100, and he useless, tell me that bodes well for the season, if that’s an example of their expertise .
I understand that a lot of Utd fans don’t really care what he costs as they can well afford it, but my thinking is if the player is going to be the worlds most expensive footballer then surely he should at least make the worlds best 11? And pogba isn’t close to that level at the moment, he was very limited in the euros and was nowhere when needed in the final. It just looks like a preposterous amount for a player of his level
What is a global club that has underperformed in the last 3 seasons supposed to do, especially after they failed to qualify for the CL? They brought in one of the most sought out managers, one of the best strikers in world Football (on a free), the bundesliga player of the season (for a steal), a badly needed defender and are negotiating a record fee for a player whose considered by “people who should know” to be one of the best players in the world… If united fail to achieve, it won’t be Woodward, the board or the Glazers fault.
Jesus Declan, that comment contained so much nonsense.
Still liking your own comments luke
That’s basically my point Declan, he isn’t one of the best players in the world, not even close to it. And as for calling zlatan one of the worlds best strikers…. Maybe 3-4 years ago. He played last season for a team that won the league around February as there is no competition, was dire against Man City when he was actually needed.
couldn’t agree more,he tends to go missing when needed most.
Money is not a problem for united better then it going into the glaciers pockets