Manchester United resumed training last week, albeit only in small groups. The next hurdle to be cleared, when it comes to Project Restart, is full contact training, which could commence this week. It is though that we’ll have the season back again on June 19, although there is still some hope for a return on June 12.
Until football does actually return, we still have plenty of transfer news items to cover. So let’s take a spin through the United rumor mill in cyberspace.
Unfortunately, the fantasy will likely soon be over for striker Odion Ighalo. The Nigerian finally got his dream move to Old Trafford, where’s he greatly exceeded expectations as a stop-gap second scoring option.
A fan favorite, who desperately wants to stay beyond just this season, his parent club is just not having it, and they hold the power in this deal.
According to multiple outlets all across the world, Shanghai Shenhua, of the Chinese Super League, are refusing to extend his loan deal, which terminates at the end of this month. The Guardian has more on Ighalo almost certainly having to return to China next week.
Elsewhere, a very large segment of United fan Twitter seems to strongly believe that Angel Gomes has reached agreement on a contract extension. The clock is winding down on his current deal, and if he doesn’t re-up, Chelsea, among others, are reportedly ready to make their move for the 19-year-old.
The creative midfielder was included in United’s provisional squad for Project Restart, and the club itself did post this feature interview with the young man himself this morning, which some are interpeting as a signal that the teenager has finally gotten his deal done. However, there is no official announcement as of now, so that isn’t much more than speculation at this point. As of today, his future still remains uncertain.
What a lot of news outlets are picking up is this story where he named his three footballing idols.
Also, staying put just might not be in his best interests, as his playing time has been scarce in recent seasons, with no real clear path towards more first team football right now.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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