All the hype that entered this summer transfer window at Manchester United has essentially fizzled. MUFC have been linked with approximately 45,329 players this silly season, but only one, Daniel James, has actually been signed.
Hopefully, there will be more signings to talk about between now and when camp opens up on July 1, but until then, here are some of the top trending news items and transfer narratives in the Manchester United online community on this Saturday. (For part two of MUFC news, notes and transfer talk go here)
United’s chances of landing Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt weren’t really considered all that great, but they were reportedly in the hunt; along with Barcelona, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, and Manchester City amongst others.
Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo even made an overt recruiting pitch to the 19-year-old, and it appears to have worked. The teenager in high demand is reportedly headed to Turin, according to Sky Sports. The deal would reportedly make De Ligt the team’s second highest paid player, and the transfer fee is in the neighborhood of £62 million.
If and when this goes through, this would mark the second time this week that United have lost out on a target to Juve this week, with ex-PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot being the first.
Maurizio Sarri had two draws against United on the pitch in 2019, but he is apparently beating them off the pitch now in the transfer market.
Elsewhere, “MLS is red!” Yes, the Major League Soccer first XI fan voting for the MLS All-Star Game has now been tabulated and the results are in.
Two of the three forwards and three of the 11 overall are ex-Red Devils as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and Nani all made the squad. The MLS All-Stars take on Atletico Madrid in Orlando on July 31. Here is the MLS fan XI in its entirety, and it’s dominated by another United, the defending MLS Cup champions from Atlanta.
The rest of the roster will be filled out and announced later.
Major League Soccer All-Star Game Fan XI
Forwards- Zlatan Ibrahimovic (LA Galaxy), Wayne Rooney (D.C. United), Carlos Vela (LAFootball Club)
Midfielders- Ezequiel Barco (Atlanta United), Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Gonzalo “Pity” Martínez (Atlanta United), Nani (Orlando City SC)
Defenders- Leandro González Pírez (Atlanta United), Walker Zimmerman (Los Angeles Football Club), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Goalkeeper- Brad Guzan (Atlanta United)
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 appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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