Welcome to the summer silly season! And of course, you can’t say “summer transfer window” at Manchester United and not talk Jadon Sancho. The latest on the Borussia Dortmund winger and English international can be found over at this link.
And for even more United transfer narratives, go to this link. Today we’ll cover news and notes items related to United figures of the past, present and potentially future, starting with the manager who preceded Jose Mourinho at the club, Louis van Gaal, who is back in the coaching game!
Well, kinda sorta only. The Iron Tulip will be coaching just one game, and this will be his first managerial gig since he was sacked by United on the very same weekend that he won his only trophy with the club (2016 FA Cup). LVG will be managing Dutch second division side SC Telstar, who are holding a sweepstakes in which the winner gets to be his assistant for that game.
In other words, this is basically a publicity stunt. Essentially, Van Gaal is and remains retired. ESPN has more here. Elsewhere, Paul Pogba, who said earlier this week that there is nothing going on regarding contract extension talks with the club, was star of the match in France’s 1-0 win over Germany yesterday in the European championships.
In this match-up of traditional powerhourse who were the very last to play a group stage game, we saw an incident/altercation between Paul Pogba and Germany/Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger.
The cameras caught the incident, which Pogba says was no big deal, say a little “nibble.” Nothing on par with say Giorgio Chiellini getting bit by Luis Suarez at the 2014 World Cup, or anything like that.
“I’m not crying for cards, yellow, red cards because of such actions,” Pogba said in post match. “He nibbled, I think, a little bit on me. But we have known each other for a long time.
“I told the referee and he takes decisions and he took a decision. It’s over.
“It was a great match for us … and I didn’t want him to be suspended because of such a situation. It was towards the end of the match. We hugged each other and that’s it.”
Finally, a couple of quick transfer rumors to think about, via NBC Sports. Ashley Young, the very versatile long time Red Devils man currently with Inter Milan could be on his way back to the Premier League.
The 36-year-old English international is reportedly wanted by both Burnley and Aston Villa. The second transfer narrative pertains to Sporting Lisbon left back Nuno Mendes. The 18-year-old phenom could be brought in to apprentice under Luke Shaw, one of the club’s top outfield players this season.
Of course, he might be a bit too pricey, with a release clause of $75 million.
United have other more pressing needs, whether or not they land Sancho. The club desperately needs to upgrade in central defense and find another defensive midfielder.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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