Non-Chelsea Transfer Pub

[Vesper 30,184]

3 minutes ago, Marvin123 said:

Chelsea are still waiting to see if a late striker option comes up. The likelihood is it will not, but they haven't downed tools for the weekend just yet.

only late striker they could buy is

[Vesper 30,184]

Ivan Rakitić turned down Man U because his Spanish wifey refused to leave Spain now

[Hamilton 2,120]

22 hours ago, Vesper said:

Great signing.

I’m curious cause it’s a big step up to premier league..

[Hamilton 2,120]

Alexis Saelemakers joins Milan from Anderlecht. 6 months on loan with a obligated buy at end of season for €7m

[Vesper 30,184]

Heartbreaking reason sees Milan move collapse for Wigan defender

https://www.teamtalk.com/news/heartbreaking-reason-sees-milan-move-collapse-for-wigans-antonee-robinson

Wigan defender Antonee Robinson saw his dream move to AC Milan collapse in heartbreaking circumstances.

Robinson travelled to Milan on Friday after the two clubs agreed a fee for the 22-year-old on Thursday evening.

The United States international underwent a medical but further medical tests with the Italian authorities were required which were subject to a 72-hour deadline.

The deal could therefore not be formally ratified before the 8pm deadline in Italy and Wigan have confirmed that Robinson will now return to the DW Stadium.

 

soooooooooooooooooo fucked up!!!!

[Vesper 30,184]

Borussia Dortmund have announced the capture of Emre Can from Juventus on loan for the remainder of the season with an obligation to buy for €25m (£21m) plus bonuses. 

The Germany international has fallen out of favour with the Old Lady following his arrival from Liverpool in 2018. 

Can has been restricted to just two league starts in Italy this season and was left out of Juventus' Champions League squad ahead the group stages. 

Manchester United and Everton had been credited with an interest in the 26-year-old, but Borussia Dortmund have won the race to land the midfielder, who can also play centre-back and full-back. 

With an eye on Euro 2020, Can is keen on regular game time to prove he deserves his place in the Germany squad ahead of the summer competition. 

[Vesper 30,184]

Jarrod Bowen passes West Ham medical after Newcastle pull out of deal for one reason

West Ham look set to have won the battle to sign Jarrod Bowen from Hull.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1236393/Jarrod-Bowen-West-Ham-medical-passed-transfer-news-Newcastle-David-Moyes

 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Vesper 30,184]

This is why Boubakary Soumare rejected £35m Newcastle United move

Steve Bruce has revealed how close Newcastle United came to signing Boubakary Soumare.

https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/why-boubakary-soumare-rejected-ps35m-newcastle-united-move-1381616

[Vesper 30,184]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

 

Odion Ighalo

[Hamilton 2,120]

Ianis Hagi (son off) joined Rangers on loan till end of season from KRC Genk 

[Vesper 30,184]

Everton Twitter account appears to suffer transfer deadline day hack

Everton's Fan Services account was seemingly the target of a Twitter hack on deadline day

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/everton-twitter-account-appears-suffer-17670603

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Pizy 18,917]

Wow. That's the kind of move I'd expect from our dumbass board.

In his wildest fantasies he surely couldn't have imagined he'd be playing for Man United at his age and after being in China for years. Seems they're more desperate than anyone thought!

[Nicco 927]

10 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Wow. That's the kind of move I'd expect from our dumbass board.

In his wildest fantasies he surely couldn't have imagined he'd be playing for Man United at his age and after being in China for years. Seems they're more desperate than anyone thought!

They will get that top 4 if we don't start playing again and soon.

[Kun Aguer0 36]

On 30. 01. 2020. at 9:45 PM, Hamilton said:

Sander Berge signed for Sheffield United from KRC Genk till 2024..

Great singing for them, the kid was the best midfielder in the league.

 

So many transfers in the last 24hrs 

 

But Pablo Mari to Arsenal and Ighalo to United are just funny

Mari couldn't make a single appearance during the time in Man City and he was in Spanish Segunda Division and Ighalo 30 yr old striker from China...

[shrenshah 186]

And nowafter expiry of clause we shall buy ake in summer for 80mn

[Vesper 30,184]

The 113 players linked with Manchester United between November 1 and Ighalo signing. How does that happen?

https://theathletic.com/1576260/2020/02/01/113-players-manchester-united-ighalo-transfer-window/

 

In this era of clicks and cash, where transfers hold a special place in the public’s fascination, the Manchester United name represents a definite sweet spot — both for journalists after a story that will draw eyeballs and for agents after a move that will generate pound signs.

The speculation this window was enhanced because United were patently in the market for two positions, and the longer the club went without making a signing the greater the scope grew for new proposals to enter the reckoning.

The names linked to Old Trafford continued to stack at a steady rate as January progressed and, after a final flurry of fresh identities owing to a striker search that carried a certain whiff of desperation the overall total, as tracked by The Athletic, reached 113 when trading closed.

From Agustin Almendra to Denis Zakaria, the whole alphabet was exhausted, with enough potential recruits to start a whole new league of United B teams. The players covered five continents, 39 countries and 62 clubs. By position they read two goalkeepers, 21 defenders, 45 midfielders and 45 forwards.

There were individuals from Atalanta in Italy and Atlanta in America and while many could be placed in a file marked “Fanciful”, there was more than one occasion when the surprise contained substance — and the biggest shock came right at the end.

Exactly 38 minutes before Friday night’s deadline, confirmation arrived that Odion Ighalo would be a United player for the next six months. After a window of the wild and wonderful, here was an appropriate climax: a Nigerian playing in China who had enjoyed previous spells in Norway, Italy, England and Spain, and would be flying in from a country battling the coronavirus. It did at least ensure United finished the window stronger.

A medical would not be required. Not because finding a doctor brave enough to administer it was impossible, but because time ran out and reports of his enduring fitness were judged sufficient. Also, medicals are not obligatory for loans.

Ighalo is due to fly in from Shanghai on Monday and while nobody is claiming a piece of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s long-term plan has fallen into place, the 30-year-old should compensate for the absence of Marcus Rashford and offer something different in attack.

He is regarded as a smart operator on the pitch and a record of 16 goals in 55 Premier League games for Watford between 2015 and 2017 explains why United view the £4 million cost in wages and loan fee to Shanghai Shenua as “good value”.

Igahlo’s name had first appeared in connection with United on January 24, with his agent making an offer to the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, but at that stage Solskjaer preferred other options. Ighalo came back into contention on Thursday, as first reported by John Cross at the Daily Mirror, and by Friday evening the move was in motion after a bid for Joshua King at Bournemouth stalled.

King’s name had come as a bolt from the blue too, as first reported by Mike McGrath at the Daily Telegraph on Thursday night, but the appeal for Solskjaer lay in knowing the 28-year-old from his time in charge of United reserves.

Again the approach was made to United, so long as Bournemouth got a replacement, and at first encouragement was given that a loan agreement could be struck, which was United’s preference. Instead Bournemouth wanted a permanent transfer, but viewed United’s £20 million offer at around half their valuation and King was left “bitterly disappointed”, in the words of one source, by the collapse. He had viewed the unique set of circumstances as creating the opportunity of his career.

Injury to Rashford meant United’s hunt for a centre-forward saw a spike in outlandish suggestions. Solskjaer’s admission after the Manchester City game opened the gates for agents to make recommendations. Salomon Rondon was proposed, just as Islam Slimani had been a week or so before. There was a call into Edinson Cavani’s camp, representations were made to Jean-Kevin Augustin (as revealed by Phil Hay), Dries Mertens could not be discounted, Olivier Giroud suddenly seemed a plausible candidate.

For a reporter trying to substantiate such a burst of activity it can be like a game of whack-a-mole, each check call equivalent to the bop of that cushioned hammer. There goes Odsonne Edouard nudged back below the surface. But up pops Gareth Bale. And here’s Ricky-Jade Jones (he’s 17 and plays for Peterborough, before you google).

Attempting to verify one report on deadline day, The Athletic received a crisp response from a Premier League executive: “This is the best banter I’ve ever seen”. Suffice to say, the player stayed where he was.

An industry insider explains: “Agents try to drum up interest in their client and United are a great name to do that with.”

Indeed, The Athletic has been told how United were used in a particularly bitter battle between agents over a player. In a bid to win a new client, one agent leaked a story about United interest as a way of demonstrating to the player’s mother he had the better connections. It was spurious and could be proven so. But ultimately the tactic worked and the player switched representation.

A person with knowledge of the situation concluded: “As soon as it’s false though what credibility have you got?”

There is usually an element of truth to every story however, simply because United watch so many players and somewhere along the process a name finds its way into the wider world.

“When United decide on which position they want to go for, they have their database of hundreds, then that is cut to realistic targets, and finally there is a short-listing to perhaps 10,” says an industry source. “Once United’s senior scouts start looking at particular players it gets into the open. If United’s scout in Italy turns up to watch the same team twice in a row, people recognise them.”

Simon Wells, Solskjaer’s personal scout, was spotted watching Erling Haaland in November, for instance. But Wells managed to go undetected when casting his eye over Bruno Fernandes around the same time.

United’s renewed focus on Fernandes was only reported after Solskjaer and Mike Phelan had flown to scout the midfielder against Porto on January 5. It was in Sporting Lisbon’s interests to get the information into the public domain to alert other clubs and potentially drive up the price through an auction. Soon enough the Portuguese press began reporting.

Still, it was not until January 10, when The Athletic confirmed the visit by Solskjaer and Phelan, that the Fernandes saga began again in earnest in this country. By that point United had lost 3-1 at home to City in the first-leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final and in the couple of days that followed eight players were reported as January targets.

To some fans, that appears evidence of United’s PR machine in action. “There goes Woodward briefing,” is a familiar refrain. But in all honesty the last thing those at United do is stoke the flames on transfers after a defeat. Instead they spend most of their time dousing with water, to moderate expectations.

One example might be Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is admired by certain players at United and was connected to a £50 million transfer to Old Trafford the day before the window opened. The Athletic understands that a new Everton contract is in the works however and likely to be signed. The association of United is no bad thing when searching for improved terms, of course.

That does not just concern players, either now. United’s flirtation with a sporting director has opened up a sub-genre of transfer story. This week Antero Henrique, formerly of Paris Saint-Germain, was reportedly “close” to an appointment at United, and before that Luis Campos, the Lille executive, was tipped for the position. Their chances were downplayed by United sources.

Sometimes, the snowball happens spontaneously. There was the unfortunate case of mistaken identity around Sander Berge, when it was reported that the Norway midfielder was at Carrington to complete a move when in fact it turned out to be the young Southend goalkeeper Nathan Bishop. And then there was Carlos Tevez, perhaps the most sensational United transfer story of the month, even if it had only a loose association with accuracy and came about entirely by accident. Mark Ogden, the respected journalist for ESPN, listed 12 signings United could try as cover for Rashford. He was accurate when predicting Slimani, and as a final artistic flourish he proposed Tevez.

Tuttosport in Italy alighted on the former Juventus player, misinterpreted the article as a record of United’s desire to explore the signing, and reported as such themselves. Because United is big news, and a Tevez comeback even bigger, websites in the UK then lifted the tale, unaware of the original source. Cue calls into the club, and bemusement by way of response.

Blameless there, United can be open to criticism for the length of time deals take to complete, and into that doubt goes transfer speculation, which as commercial director Richard Arnold said in September, drives a “high level of interaction within our social media communities” but also gives the impression the club’s recruitment process is anything but serene.

It was, for instance, December 19 when Liverpool announced the signing of Takumi Minamino and the club then made clear their business was done. Subsequent stories about Liverpool targets were few and far between.

By contrast Solskjaer was involved in a transfer meeting on Friday to establish a late assault on the market that ultimately saw Ighalo join as the third signing of the window, after Fernandes and 20-year-old Bishop.

Only 110 fewer than they were linked with.

The full list of 113 players linked with United since November 1 (players in bold signed)

Goalkeepers: 2

Nathan Bishop (Southend United), Brad Young (Hartlepool)

Defenders: 21

Logan Pye (Sunderland), Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain), Marash Kumbulla (Verona), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Issa Diop (West Ham United), Ben White (Leeds United), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Christian Kabasele (Watford), Ricardo Pereira (Leicester City), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur), Layvin Kurzawa (Paris Saint-Germain), Nelson Semedo (Barcelona), Jean-Clair Todibo (Barcelona), Ruben Dias (Benfica), Valentin Antov (CSKA Sofia), Merih Demiral (Juventus), Mohammed Salisu (Real Valladolid), Milan Skriniar (Inter Milan), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Daniele Rugani (Juventus)

Midfielders: 45

Eric-Junior Dina Ebimbe (Paris-Saint Germain), Matias Vecino (Inter Milan), Efrain Morales (Atlanta United), Ruben Neves (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Sean Longstaff (Newcastle United), Todd Cantwell (Norwich City), Gedson Fernandes (Benfica), Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Agustin Almendra (Boca Juniors), Fabian Ruiz (Napoli), Boubakary Soumare (Lille), Donny van de Beek (Ajax), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Jude Bellingham (Birmingham City), Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid), Dani Olmo (Dinamo Zagreb), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Eduardo Camavinga (Rennes), Leandro Paredes (Paris Saint-Germain), Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Arturo Vidal (Barcelona), Dejan Kulusevski (Atalanta), Denis Zakaria (Borussia Monchengladbach), Bruno Fernandes (Sporting Lisbon), Ezequiel Barco (Atlanta United), Nicolo Zaniolo (Roma), Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen), James Maddison (Leicester City), Matheus Pereira (West Bromwich Albion), Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City), Emre Can (Juventus), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), James Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur), Dwight McNeil (Burnley), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Declan Rice (West Ham United), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Sander Berge (Genk)

Forwards: 45

Maxi Gomez (Valencia), Jean-Kevin Augustin (RB Leipzig), Islam Slimani (Leicester City), Carlos Tevez (Boca Juniors), Fernando Llorente (Napoli), Krzysztof Piatek (AC Milan), Wayne Rooney (Derby County), Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli), Emmanuel Dennis (Club Brugge), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Odsonne Edouard (Celtic), Raul Jimenez (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Lucas Moura (Tottenham Hotspur), Luka Jovic (Real Madrid), Takumi Minamino (Red Bull Salzburg), Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain), Vedat Muriqi (Fenerbahce), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Richarlison (Everton), Mathis Rayan Cherki (Lyon), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Erling Haaland (Red Bull Salzburg), Ricky-Jade Jones (Peterborough United), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Edin Dzeko (Roma), Danny Loader (Reading), Joe Gelhardt (Wigan Athletic), Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Jovan Malcolm (West Bromwich Albion), Memphis Depay (Lyon), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (LA Galaxy), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig), Moussa Dembele (Lyon), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Salomon Rondon (Dalian Yifang), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Josh King (Bournemouth), Teemu Pukki (Norwich City), Adolfo Gaich (San Lorenzo), Danny Ings (Southampton), Odion Ihgalo (Shanghai Shenhua)

 

Vedat Muriqi

[Vesper 30,184]

Manchester United have already identified Kalidou Koulibaly as No.1 target for summer window

https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/01/manchester-united-kalidou-koulibaly-summer-transfer-12167084/?ito=newsnow-feed

[Chelsea_firstlove 178]

The 998 players linked with Chelsea between November 1 and no signing. How does that happen?