It’s the last international break of the season, and thus, Manchester United are currently off until March 30. We don’t have a game to talk about for awhile, but there are plenty of transfer rumors to discuss. The summer transfer window doesn’t open for awhile yet, but the futures of many key United players remains up in the air.
Let’s take a spin through the inter webs and see what’s buzzing in Manchester United cyberspace right now.
We begin with a “re-boot” or sorts. Remember the Toni Kroos to Manchester United narrative in 2013?
When a deal was supposedly agreed upon…only to have Real Madrid then swoop in and sign the then with Bayern Munich midfielder for £27 million in 2014?
Well, United will have their chance to sign the German international again after reports he’s keen on a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu. The Daily Mail claims that United will have a chance to acquire him for £50 million in the summer.
-Elsewhere United, as well as City, Liverpool, Juventus, Real Madrid and every other team interested in signing Joao Felix have been given a boost, via the latest comments of Benfica Sporting Director Rui Costa.
The Benfica boss admits that it will one day, eventually, become impossible for his club to hold on to the highly sought after 19-year-old. Costa said to (h/t Goal) Tuttosport: “Someone called him my heir. Or the new Kaka. The truth is that Felix is only Felix.”
“He has an extraordinary sense of play and he has a rare ability, he can guess what will happen in front of the goal. He is a modern number 10, a second striker with a remarkable sense of goal, he scored 10 goals in the league.”
“€120m release clause? We will try to keep him as long as possible, this applies to Felix as it does to all the others.
“This is the club’s policy, then we will see why we are aware that the clauses exist and that certain players cannot be held back indefinitely in Portugal.”
Finally, going to back to links with Real Madrid, defender Raphael Varane has discredited reports in Spain linking him with Manchester United. He says he is happy in Madrid.
‘To say that I am not happy at Real Madrid is not true,” said Varane.
“I’m at Real Madrid. The biggest club in the world. I’m constantly in a state of challenging myself because the requirement here is that of the highest level.”
“I’m focused on my career. We had a tough time in the middle of the season where we had to fight. I’ve given my all in this shirt and I can be proud of that.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.