Non-Chelsea Transfer Pub

[Jase 43,479]

 

[BlueLyon 9,359]

2 hours ago, Jason said:

 

bvb is kinda stupid. It was positive for them to develop Hakimi, but what do they have now? They didnt get money, they didnt win any trophy. Its always better to develop your own player. It makes them small club developing for other clubs.

Real gets it so easy ffs. Same was with Carvajal a few years ago.

[King Kante 1,643]

9 hours ago, BlueLyon said:

bvb is kinda stupid. It was positive for them to develop Hakimi, but what do they have now? They didnt get money, they didnt win any trophy. Its always better to develop your own player. It makes them small club developing for other clubs.

Real gets it so easy ffs. Same was with Carvajal a few years ago.

Yeah, BVB are a bit of a funny one. They are the second biggest team in Germany who play regular CL but kind of act as if they are a big club playing in a small league. Really they should be able to keep most of the players they have. 

[Vesper 31,181]

Almost all of Barcelona’s squad are for sale. There’s just one problem…

https://theathletic.com/1997643/2020/08/19/messi-sale-busquets-pique-koeman-suarez/

“This is the first decision within a wider restructuring of the first team, which will be agreed between the current technical secretary and the new coach,” said the Barcelona club statement announcing coach Quique Setien’s sacking on Monday.

The message was clear. Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his board were reacting to the biggest humiliation in the club’s history with a firm hand. Even before the new coach had been appointed — still set to be Ronald Koeman but not yet confirmed — they had decided what needed to be done.

The club’s hierarchy were going to clear out those primarily responsible, including the coach they had appointed just seven months before but, most importantly, the group of ageing big names who were no longer capable of performing to the standards required.

Meanwhile, the technical secretary (or sporting director) Eric Abidal and his right-hand man Ramon Planes were to remain in place to conduct this extensive transfer business, overseen from the top by Bartomeu.

That all sounded nice and decisive on first reading. There is for sure a need for a deep restructuring in the Barca team — the annihilation by Bayern followed last year’s Champions League capitulation at Anfield, the previous season’s disaster at Roma, and on and on, back to the last time they won the trophy in 2015.

Those whose time is now up included Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Arturo Vidal, Jordi Alba and Ivan Rakitic. They are all past 30 now and have given great service to the club (well, except Vidal) but need to make way for a new team to emerge. Finding buyers for such high-profile players should also not be that difficult as there should always be a market for players with multiple World Cups, European Championships and Champions Leagues on their CVs, whatever the circumstances.

Or maybe not.

For example, Chelsea are known to be looking for a left-back this summer and have shown that, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, they have money to spend. Meanwhile, Alba, 31, is one of those who Barca are most keen to move on. But would Chelsea be up for spending a sizeable fee, or matching a current salary of around €10 million a year, for a player whose best career moment came in the Euro 2012 final when he raced clear to score for Spain? Or would they be better looking at Sergio Reguilon, 23, who just last Sunday, sliced through Manchester United’s defence to set up a goal for Sevilla in the Europa League semi-final and is available this summer for around €25 million, and with much lower wage demands?

Similarly, Sergio Busquets is another who Barca’s hierarchy would like to thank for his service and move on to make room for Frenkie de Jong to take over at the base of their midfield. Busquets still has a great personal relationship with his former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and they share the same agent. There were even talks about a move to Manchester City in 2016 before Busquets signed his most recent Barca contract worth around €14 million a year up to 2023. But then, should City stretch their wage structure to add another holding midfielder who is now 32 and even slower than those they currently have and thereby block the development of their big summer 2019 signing Rodri, who has been earmarked to take over from Busquets in the Spain national team? Probably not.

It is not as if Barca’s transfer decision-makers have not already been dealing with exactly these problems, without any clear success. They made a big effort last summer to move Rakitic on when De Jong was signed from Ajax for €75 million. The Croatian was among the players offered to Paris Saint-Germain in part-exchange for Neymar, while Manchester United, Everton, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Juventus were also reportedly interested in taking him, according to leaks to friendly Catalan reporters. The player faced down the pressure to leave and stuck to his Barca contract, which pays him circa €7.5 million net per year. Even a free transfer to former club Sevilla was impossible as it would have required Barca to actually pay him to get him off their books.

Would the situation be any different now for Suarez, Vidal and Pique, who are all past their 33rd birthdays? Suarez is still one of the world’s best finishers on his day but also has a history of knee trouble and another 12 months left on a contract paying him €15 million a year. Vidal’s deal is worth around €8 million and also has another year to run.

Pique offered after Friday’s game to be “the first one to leave” if it were for the good of the club but where would the proud Catalan who remains Barca’s best defender realistically move to? Previously lucrative late-career destinations such as China, the USA and the Middle East were throwing much less money around than a few years back, even before the COVID-19 pandemic cut club budgets worldwide and made moving continents a lot more problematic for everyone.

The Barca transfer brains trust has been having plenty of trouble lately trying to sell younger players who are still at the peak of their market value. They signed Philippe Coutinho for €160 million from Liverpool in January 2018 before quickly realising there was no place for him in the team. All the Premier League’s biggest clubs have since been linked with the Brazilian but no potential buyer is willing to come even close to what Barca paid. So he was parked for a year on loan at Bayern, where he has not excelled either, but did come off the bench to score the German team’s seventh and eighth goals last weekend.

The huge salaries which Barca have continued to pay their senior players, even as the team’s collective standard dipped alarmingly through recent years, is a big contributing factor to the serious economic problems which emerged even before the pandemic blew a further hole in their finances.

The club would have needed to make significant cuts to the €500 million-plus annual wage bill even if this season had gone well on the pitch. Negotiations with the squad around temporary pay cuts during lockdown last March soured an already difficult relationship between the dressing room and the boardroom. Whatever Pique said about being willing to move on, senior players are very unlikely to want to do Bartomeu a favour by foregoing money they have been promised.

Then, less than 24 hours after the confirmation Setien’s departure came another serious change of plans. It turned out Abidal was not going to stay on to oversee the squad shake-up. Instead, he was being sacked as well. The Frenchman had been under serious pressure — both for being associated with Setien’s appointment last January and especially since Messi reprimanded him on Instagram for publicly holding the players responsible for the decision to fire predecessor Ernesto Valverde.

Abidal had kept a quiet public profile since then and there was some surprise that he appeared to have been entrusted with even greater responsibility in Monday’s official club statement. The confusion underlined just how difficult it will be to make the tough decisions required to rebuild the squad amid all the ongoing institutional instability at the club.

Bartomeu, though, maintained things are not really so bad when he spoke on Barca TV later on Tuesday evening. The Blaugrana club chief calmly explained that Abidal had himself asked to leave — albeit without being pressed on his own club’s internal channel for the exact motives or timeline. He then said Barcelona’s problems were “sporting, but not institutional” and confirmed that a big renewal of the playing squad was now going to take place. Planes was stepping up to take as sporting director, while Koeman would be involved in transfer decisions, with the board also having some input.

Even though Koeman had not yet been confirmed as coach, Bartomeu was happy to reply when asked which players he thought were “not for sale”. He started with Messi, then added Marc Andre ter Stegen, Clement Lenglet, Nelson Semedo, Ansu Fati, De Jong, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele. Pointedly not mentioned were the veterans Pique, Busquets, Suarez, Alba, Rakitic and Vidal. Coutinho was a maybe.

“The renovation of the squad will be as deep as the new project requires,” Bartomeu said. “All options are on the table. Some players have already been spoken to, in order to explain the situation, and others will be, depending on what the technical secretary and the coach agree. There must be respect for the players. We are talking of some legendary figures who deserve an honourable goodbye.”

Again that all sounds very well in theory. But in the real world, it will not be so easy to choose exactly who stays and who leaves over the coming weeks, especially as Bartomeu confirmed that significant departures were necessary rather than just desirable. A drastic drop in revenues of €300 million owing to the COVID-19 crisis means the wage bill has to fall significantly to meet La Liga financial fair play rules.

Other squad members can be added to the list of those who might leave, namely Samuel Umtiti, Junior Firpo, Jean-Clair Todibo, Neto, Sergi Roberto, Moussa Wague, Carles Alena and Martin Braithwaite. None of these have been impressing potential purchasers with their recent performances.

A big challenge for those doing Barca’s negotiating is that they have just very publicly stated that the players they are putting on the market are no longer good enough for the top level. Given the size of the club’s financial problems, and how difficult it is going to be to find buyers for those they want to get rid of, it would be no surprise for some of the players on the “not for sale” list to suddenly be on the market were a big enough offer to arrive.

Then, there remains the enigma that is Messi. The Bayern defeat was followed by more claims that the Argentine had finally had enough and was going to leave. Such rumours have surfaced quite often through recent years, especially after the European exits which keep getting more painful every year.

What the 33-year-old really wants more than anything is to be part of a squad capable of winning big trophies again and The Athletic has been told recently by those close to him that leaving the Nou Camp would only ever be the very final resort. Some at Barca have privately considered the pros and cons of removing his €100 million-plus salary from the wage bill quite regularly in recent years. Yet, while nothing can be ruled out completely given the depth of the crisis at the club, his departure this summer still feels impossible.

Bartomeu said during his interview on Tuesday evening that Koeman wanted Messi to stay as the “keystone” of a new team. He admitted, however, he had not spoken to the club captain since the Bayern defeat; only to his father Jorge, who said his son was “disappointed and frustrated”.

A further complicating factor in the plan to completely rebuild the team is that the new La Liga season is set to start in mid-September. It is very, very unlikely for the “deep restructuring” to have been fully completed by then — especially as, presumably, the plan is to also sign a number of younger but still pretty established players beyond the already confirmed arrivals of midfielder Miralem Pjanic, and youngsters Trincao, Pedri and Matheus Fernandes.

New coach Koeman still has a huge status from scoring the goal which won the club their first European Cup in 1992 but is coming into a dressing room full of players who know they have been blamed for the disastrous 2019-20 and are up for sale. Across La Liga at Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane has successfully sidelined his unwanted galacticos Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez while keeping the team’s other big names and the club’s fans onside. Would Koeman be able to manage that with Busquets or Alba? How would Messi react if Suarez, his best mate outside his family, was furious after being made to train with the reserves?

So the drama at the Nou Camp is far from over. Bartomeu and his board are asking the club’s socio members and fans to trust that the people most responsible for building a completely unbalanced and uncompetitive squad can now fix its huge structural issues in double-quick time.

Monday also saw Barca set presidential elections at the club for next March. While Bartomeu cannot stand for re-election, the hope within the club hierarchy is that a new-look team having a better season on the pitch would allow for a “continuity candidate” to emerge and win that vote.

That will be a lot easier said than done.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

No one is going to pay such massive fees they demand for Alaba or Suarez. Also if they actualy told 3/4 of the squad they can feck off, why would they bother next year? Because sure they aint selling even half of them, nevermind getting all the replacements. 

Also they appointed new manager just few days later. Shouldnt they take some time to consider whole thing from long term perspective? 

Messi, if he wants to have a solid end of his career should leave. 

But what is the funniest thing is that they are now rebuilding for future or whatever yet not long ago they sold Arthur for Pjanic, another almost 30 y.o. with big wages 😂😂

[Tomo 21,754]

18 hours ago, King Kante said:

Yeah, our transfer business between 08-12 was pretty shocking. In that time, we could've had Alves, Modrat, Kun, Ribery (we picked Malouda instead) and Neymar if it wasn't for a mixture of not ponying up/taking the bad option or having certain Cnut's f*ck us over. 

Instead we ended up with players like Yossi, Bosingwa, Ramires, Torres and Malouda instead. Some of those of course weren't awful, but what could've been.....

Big problem was the team was so good we didn't feel an urgent need to get some serious top signings in. Liverpool appear to be making the exact same mistake today.

[Atomiswave 6,120]

4 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Liverpool appear to be making the exact same mistake today

And may it long continue

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Fernando 6,743]

Ben White: Leeds make third bid for Brighton defender

 

Leeds United have made a third bid for Brighton defender Ben White, believed to be £25m.

 

What do you guys think? I think 30 million for him would be the selling price. 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

Looks like they are going to sell Dembele & Aouar in this window.

[Vesper 31,181]

Paris Saint-Germain stars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe cost more than Bayern Munich’s entire 23-man squad against Lyon

[Special Juan 28,871]

SKY mentioned last night that Munich's most expensive starting player from last night was Manuel Neuer at 20 odd million, the rest cheaper and also academy prospects.

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Special Juan 28,871]

Aouar is outstanding, hope to fuck he doesn't go to Arsenal.

[DDA 10,285]

No way Aouar will end up at Arsenal. Absolutely no chance. 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

13 minutes ago, DDA said:

No way Aouar will end up at Arsenal. Absolutely no chance. 

Never say never

 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,976]

Lille president Gerard Lopez has revealed that the club have reached the same agreement with Arsenal and Napoli over the future of Gabriel Magalhaes, leaving it up to the player to decide. 

Lopez told talkSPORT: "I think he has narrowed it down. I think it is fair to say that Arsenal are high interest to him. Napoli is high interest to him. I don't think I am giving up too much if I tell you that choice is going to be made probably between today or tomorrow.

"We've told him where we think he should go."

 

-Sky Sports

[Vesper 31,181]

Fulham sign Antonee Robinson, left-back nicknamed ‘Jedi’ who nearly joined Milan

https://theathletic.co.uk/1991795/2020/08/20/fulham-sign-antonee-robinson-left-back-nicknamed-jedi-who-nearly-joined-milan/

AC Milan, the San Siro and Paolo Maldini. As Antonee Robinson prepared to fly to Italy on transfer deadline day in January, there was much to be excited about.

Wigan Athletic had accepted an initial £6 million bid for the United States international that could rise by a further £4 million, meaning there were just the formalities of his dream move to complete. Or so it seemed.

An irregular heartbeat detected during the medical immediately put the switch to Italy on hold. Further tests were requested but the looming 7pm cut-off point for all Serie A deals to be finalised meant there just wasn’t time.

A deal that would have seen Robinson swap a Championship relegation scrap for one of the most glamorous names in European football was off. More worryingly for the former Everton academy graduate and his tight-knit family, the extent of those heart problems was a huge unknown.

Once back in England and with his Wigan career placed on ice, Robinson underwent tests at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital. March was pencilled in for a possible operation only for the irregularity to have happily corrected itself before that date.

An all-clear to resume playing followed and the left-back was able to return to action with Wigan in a season extended by the pandemic. He started the final nine games as Paul Cook’s side battled to overcome a 12-point deduction imposed for going into administration.

“How Antonee dealt with everything thrown at him earlier this year said a lot about him as a character,” says Chris Brass, Wigan’s head of recruitment until being made redundant last month. “Nothing fazed him at all.

“Often, you don’t see the full character of a man until he suffers disappointment. How Antonee dealt with what happened with Milan was a testament to his strength of character. He’s always been a mature lad but probably even more so now after what happened.

“AC Milan and (the club’s technical director) Maldini, the greatest left-back of certainly my era, wanted to sign him. That is such a big thing, so to have it snatched away must have been so tough to take.

“But, no sooner had it happened, he was back at the club and supporting the boys. Not feeling sorry for himself or anything like that. That is when I knew this kid was someone who deserved to go to the top.”

Following his switch to Fulham, Robinson has now arrived at that elite level at the age of 23. Sheffield United and Fulham both triggered a £1.9 million relegation release clause in his contract late last week, but the 23-year-old opted for the newly-promoted London club. There was also interest from Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Werder Bremen and former club Everton.

Brass adds: “The AC Milan thing may have taken some people by surprise but, when you stop and think about where Antonee can reach, it did make sense. Had he signed for them, Antonee would have been a force in Italy. He could have helped Milan back up to where they belong in the Champions League.

“It would have been up to him, of course. But he’s a grounded lad and I’d have expected him to do exactly what he had once done at Wigan — worked hard to make a first-team place his own.

“Just look at what happened at Wigan last month. After all that had gone on and the time out he’d had to take, Antonee still came back for the final few weeks and finished the season very, very strongly. Again, that said a lot about him.”

---

Bramall Lane, Sheffield. The final Saturday of 2017. Chris Wilder’s promotion-chasing United are hosting a Bolton Wanderers side who sit second bottom of the Championship.

The home team are strongly fancied to win but Bolton start strongly. As the game approaches the midway point of the first half, Antonee Robinson is causing plenty of problems down the left flank.

So, when the ball reaches the loanee from Everton 10 or so yards inside the United half, there is a tangible sense of excitement among the travelling Bolton fans.

Billy Sharp and Chris Basham move to close down the left-back, who darts forward for a couple of seconds before quickly slipping a pass inside to team-mate Adam Le Fondre.

Robinson keeps going, meaning when the return pass comes, he is yards clear of the United defence. A perfectly-weighted cross follows to allow Gary Madine to tap in what proves to be the only goal of the game.

“Antonee came to us as quite a raw player,” recalls Phil Parkinson, Bolton manager at the time but now in charge of Sunderland. “But there was this incredible athletic ability there along with a very strong mentality. That stood out straight away.

“Learning your trade in the Championship — which is one of the toughest leagues in European football — is not easy. It is a big ask, and especially for someone like Antonee. who’d had a couple of injuries the previous year. But he took it in his stride and learned from any mistakes.

“He is everything you expect in a modern-day full-back. Powerful, so quick, with great hunger and desire to be a player.”

Robinson opting to move to Craven Cottage came as a disappointment to Wilder. The United manager is understood to have been informed of the US international’s decision by the player himself on Wednesday morning.

Enda Stevens starting every game for United last season is believed to have been a factor in Robinson choosing Fulham. However, the transfer will still thrust Robinson into a straight scrap for a starting place with Fulham’s Wembley hero Joe Bryan. Wolves also made a late play for Robinson but his mind was made up.

Parker will work with a very different Robinson to the one who first arrived at Bolton as a teenager a little over three years ago. His only previous senior experience had come via three appearances for Everton under-23s in the EFL Trophy. He went on to play 30 times as Parkinson’s side won their fight with relegation.

“I was looking for a full-back during the summer after we won promotion and couldn’t find one,” says Parkinson. “We looked everywhere, had a couple in on trial. But nothing seemed right.

“It was our under-23s scout, Chris Johnson, who came up with the suggestion. He rang me up and said, ‘You need to look at Antonee Robinson — he’s been out injured a while but could be just what you’re after’.

“After 10 minutes watching him on video, I knew Chris was right. We had to get him. I knew he’d be perfectly suited to us and bring the balance that we wanted.

“We already had Andy Taylor, which in many ways was the perfect balance with Antonee. Andy had the experience. He was probably coming to the end of his career but we said to Andy, ‘Can you help Antonee?’ He did that really well.”

Asked if there is any particular game that stands out from that one season together, Parkinson replies: “Funnily enough, considering their attempts to sign him, Sheffield United was probably one of those games when he played especially well.

“Chris Wilder had a few injuries that day so he played Chris Basham at wing-back. He (Robinson) burst straight past him and put this great cross in for Madine to finish in the middle. A lovely bit of football. I am sure Chris remembered Antonee’s pace and power from that day.”

Before moving on loan to Bolton, Robinson had signed a new two-year contract at Everton. He had joined the Merseyside club’s youth set-up at the age of 11 and later became an integral part of the under-23s side that won the Premier League 2 title under David Unsworth in 2016-17.

Nicknamed “Jedi” at Goodison Park due to his love of the Star Wars films, Robinson’s return after a maiden season in the Championship meant a chance to take stock, an opportunity to see just how far he had come since those days far, far away when first on trial.

Martin Waldron, Everton’s former head of academy recruitment, tells The Athletic: “The great thing with Antonee is he has got better every year. He matured later, getting better the longer he was with us.

“It often happens with lads born later in the school year. From memory, Antonee was born in early August (the 8th). Not all coaches make allowances but I always did. In fact, we played a game at Everton that I asked all the scouts to play.

“When watching a player, I got them to try and guess his date of birth. I could always spot a lad with a late birthday. I felt it was important you considered that because being the young boy in a group does make a difference.

“Everyone now seems to expect the player to be ready straight away at 17. But it doesn’t happen like that. The average age to make your Premier League debut is around 22 to 23. Give them that bit of time and they will get there. Antonee’s move from Wigan shows that.

“One of my scouts phoned me one day and said, ‘I’ve got one’. When someone you respect says that, then you get excited. We brought Antonee in and had a quick look at him in the development centre.

“Then, we put him into the group. Obviously, he wasn’t up to pace at first. It is so hard at that level. But there was something there. Antonee got better over his trial period and then we signed him. He played left midfield at first.

“Antonee had ability, the big thing we needed to do was harness it. In time, he got better and better. We moved him deeper to left-back over time. We thought the role would suit him better.

“He was in a decent group with Joe Williams, Harry Charsley, Ryan Ledson. With Antonee, that’s not a bad midfield, eh? Jonjoe Kenny was another in that group.

“I am pleased for him. A lovely kid and a lovely family, and his dad is sound. Can’t speak highly enough of his family. Antonee was a good honest kid who worked hard and took everything on board.”

---

London, November 2018. Robinson ambles through reception at the United States’ national team hotel on crutches, an ankle injury meaning he won’t face England in the upcoming friendly at Wembley.

It is the latest setback in what has been an inauspicious start to his international career. Robinson had made his debut for the US six months earlier in a 3-0 win over Bolivia, registering an assist, but then struggled in starts against Brazil and Colombia.

Neither, admittedly, was an easy assignment, with Robinson up against Atletico Madrid’s Santiago Arias and star playmaker James Rodriguez in the 4-2 defeat to Colombia. Against Brazil, it was Douglas Costa.

“When you struggle like that, you want to turn it around and take what you’ve learned to the next game,” Robinson told reporters after the 2-0 loss to Brazil. “It is all about growing each time.

“Costa is a Champions League-quality player. I’m not playing against people like him every week. But that’s a level that I want to get to.”

The injury before the England friendly denied Robinson the opportunity to impress in front of friends and family. Another difficult outing the following summer against Jamaica in Washington didn’t further his case to play under new coach Gregg Berhalter in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Daniel Lovitz, then at Montreal Impact, and new Fulham team-mate Tim Ream were selected ahead of Robinson, who was born in Milton Keynes but qualifies for the US through his father.

Nevertheless, left-back remains a weak spot for the USMNT and Robinson fits the bill in terms of Berhalter’s preferred attributes.

“If Christian Pulisic comes inside and is an aggressive attacker,” Berhalter says, “we want a left-footed player to get around him. Who is that person?

“If it’s (Ajax’s) Sergino Dest, he’s right-footed. I’ve been telling Sergino to work on his left-footed crossing. There are options. You can set it up in a way that could work. But all those issues would be solved if you had an attacking left-footed left-back, and, unfortunately, we don’t have that right now.”

Berhalter has been monitoring Fulham’s new signing. “He has been doing a great job,” adds the national team coach. “He’s playing every week, he’s got a great physical profile and he fits the profile of a guy who can overlap if you’re tucking your winger in.

“There are a lot of good things to his game and he is going to continue to develop. We are watching him closely and are in contact.”

As for the move to Craven Cottage, he adds: “For the national team, it is great news. When you think about that left-back spot being open and contested, it is a good opportunity for Antonee playing at a high level to prove that he wants to be and is capable of being the left-back for the national team.”

Fellow international — and new club-mate — Tim Ream also believes the transfer can only be good news for the US side.

“He is a flying full-back,” said the 32-year-old via a US Soccer conference call as the final touches were being put to the deal. “He is technical, but he’s got pace to burn, energy to burn and he gets up and down.

“Both times we played him (with Wigan) this year, our guys have come off the field saying, ‘What a player.’ As long as he continues to develop in that same vein, it can only mean big things for him.

“Obviously, a move to Milan falling through would have been huge but things happen. Another American at the club, and someone who can attack out of that left full-back role. And that can only translate into his role with the national team and being that attacking left full-back for the US.”

“The modern-day full-back is almost like a winger and Antonee ticks every box,” says Brass, who played such a pivotal role in bringing Robinson to the DW Stadium in 2018. “He is an elite athlete, I thought I’d been fit as a player until I saw Antonee.

“We had him on loan first and then paid what was quite a substantial fee for a youngster. And certainly for ourselves. But we felt there was more growth in him. I still believe that. Antonee can run the length of the field early on, but the big thing is he can continue doing that throughout the game. He was still doing those same runs in the 95th minute.

“That underlined what a phenomenal athlete he is. Antonee is now at the top level and his new club can now take on that mantle of challenging him, ensuring that full potential is reached.

“He can still get better and better to become a key player in the elite leagues for many years to come.”

[Vesper 31,181]

TRANSFER NEWS: MANCHESTER UNITED PLOT PLAYER PLUS CASH DEAL TO SIGN JACK GREALISH

http://www.thehardtackle.com/news/2020/08/21/transfer-news-manchester-united-plot-player-plus-cash-deal-to-sign-jack-grealish/

Manchester United are willing to offer Sergio Romero in a player plus cash deal to secure the services of Aston Villa ace Jack Grealish this summer.

According to Daily Mail, Manchester United have come up with a plan to sign Jack Grealish. They are plotting a player plus cash deal to sign the Aston Villa midfielder, with Sergio Romero likely to be used as a sweetener.

The Red Devils are keen on offloading the Argentine goalkeeper this summer, following the return of Dean Henderson, who will compete with David de Gea for the number one spot next season.

The Villans had expressed the desire to sign Henderson on loan, in an attempt to provide more competition to Tom Heaton in between the sticks. But instead, Manchester United are willing to offer them the chance to sign Romero as well as make a considerable amount of cash, with the hope of getting Grealish, who is valued around £70 million, in return.

Desperate for a move away from Old Trafford, Romero has been linked with a quite a few clubs already, including Chelsea and newly promoted Leeds United. But, a move to Aston Villa might make sense as he seeks to become a first-choice ‘keeper in the Premier League next season.

For Manchester United, Grealish could be an important signing as the Englishman fits the criteria of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s footballing identity, with the Red Devils revolving their game around talented British players.