Louis van Gaal and Manchester United seem hell-bent on bringing in more new faces.
The Independent are telling us that Louis van Gaal is panicking about the mediocrity currently inhabiting Old Trafford and is going all out for long-term target Arturo Vidal from Juventus. United have concerns over the Chilean international’s knee and are looking to negotiate a complex appearance-based contract. The fee mentioned at the moment is £34m. Insiders say that Vidal is keen on the move, but United are a little concerned about his fitness.
The Sun report that Van Gaal is also hoping to secure a deal for Ajax’s Daley Blind (pic above). The Dutch international utility player had a fine World Cup and reports suggest he will become a United player in the coming days for £18m. He can play in midfield, central defence and as a wing-back which is pretty impressive as that means United will only have to field nine players and can save money on appearance bonuses.
The Manchester United supermarket sweep doesn’t end there though with the Daily Star saying that they and Arsenal are in for Roma’s Mehdi Benatia. Roma have apparently cancelled a proposed meeting with Bayern Munich as the Germans made a derisory offer and this has alerted the two English clubs. The price mooted here is £30m and both clubs are prepared to bid for him.
Olivier Giroud is apparently out for three months with an ankle injury and Arsenal have only just realised that they have only Yaya Sanogo as back-up. This has set off the alarm bells in the Emirates and Arsene Wenger will look to bring in either Danny Welbeck or Loic Remy (pic above) as Giroud’s replacement according to the Telegraph. Welbeck has been told he can leave Manchester United by Louis van Gaal and Arsenal would seem the perfect place for him to go.
The Daily Express reckon that Wenger is still after William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon and will be encouraged as the Portuguese club lowered their asking price for the powerhouse midfielder. Originally they had put him up on DoneDeal for £35m but are now prepared to settle for £24m.
The Daily Star report that Chelsea are trying to sign Roma striker Mattia Destro. Mourinho wants to bring Destro to Stamford Bridge as cover for Costa, Torres and Drogba. Well, Costa and Drogba anyway. He was Roma’s top scorer last season with 13 goals in Serie A and is valued by the Italians at £20m.
Tottenham are prepared to meet the £8m release clause of the Seville captain Federico Fazio (pic above). The Argentine defender, according to the London Evening Standard, is wanted at White Hart Lane as Michael Dawson is off to Hull. The Spanish club had hoped to tie the player to a new contract but realise that English clubs can offer much higher wages that they cannot compete with.
The Star feel that Liverpool’s forgotten man Sebastian Coates could be on his way to Sunderland on a season-long loan. Coates, who has played about 43 seconds since signing for Liverpool about 22 years ago, is needed by Gus Poyet to provide cover to John O’Shea and Wes Brown.
In other news, for some reason Bournemouth want to sign Carlton Cole, Sunderland, QPR and West Brom all want Leicester midfielder Andy King, Swansea are set to complete the £1.5m signing of Gambian striker Modou Barrow and Hull have not given up hope of signing striker Jordan Rhodes.
We’re off to sell some stuff to Louis van Gaal.
