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| United ready to launch bid for midfielder Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:05 AM PDT
The former United manager and his scouts watched Carvalho almost 20 times last season and the club looks set to open talks with Sporting Lisbon for the youngster, who was one of the standout players in the Portuguese league last season and who has attracted interest from a host of European clubs, including Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea.
According to reports on Portuguese newspapers O Jogo and Record, United are expected to table an official offer in the next couple of days, with Sporting Lisbon thought to demand around €30m (£23.9m) for the 22-year-old, considerably less than the £37m Carvalho would cost according to reports in the British press. A defensive midfielder with good feet and physically imposing – at 6ft 1in Carvalho cuts a menacing figure in the middle of the park – the Sporting Lisbon man has emerged as one of European’s football most coveted prospects after a breakthrough season with the Lisbon club during which he established himself as a pivotal figure for Sporting and collected 33 appearances in all competition, dislodging former Sporting’s captain Fabian Rinaudo from the starting XI. His performances at club level earned him his first full Portugal cap in the second leg of the World Cup playoff against Sweden and the 22-year-old made his World Cup debut in the second half of Portugal’s 2-2- draw against the USA, before playing the full 90 minutes against Ghana as Paulo Bento’s men were knocked out of the tournament. Dynamic and athletic despite his imposing physique Carvalho, who has been compared to Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic by Portuguese football journalist Jan Hagen, is widely tipped to become one of the best in the world in his role and with United desperate to add some much-needed steel to their midfield the young Portuguese could be the perfect partner for Ander Herrera. Carvalho’s young age, however, could also count against him, were Louis Van Gaal to decide United need a more experienced player to anchor their midfield – Nigel De Jong has often been mentioned as a possible alternative over the last ten days – but considering the Dutch manager’s reputation for developing youngsters, Carvalho could well be on his way to Old Trafford this summer. Dan |
| United close in on third signing Posted: 30 Jun 2014 11:37 PM PDT
The Arsenal captain was first linked with United almost two weeks ago but he has since denied he had any intentions of leaving the Emirates, while the North London club issued a statement dismissing the rumours linking their captain with a summer move as simple speculations.
Surprising thought it might be, United’s interest however seems to be extremely concrete and Ed Woodward could soon knock on Arsene Wenger’s door with an offer in the region of £11m after an initial £6m bid was rejected, claims the Express. Vermaelen, who will be in action tonight when Belgium take on the USA in the final round of 16 match at the World Cup, remains a rather strange option for United with many suggesting the club would be better off looking elsewhere given the Belgian has been badly out of form and lost his spot in the starting XI to Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny last season. Vermaelen’s shaky form looks to have affected his status at international level as well, with the Belgian left on the bench in two of his country’s first three games at the World Cup and when he did start he only lasted 31 minutes before being replaced by Jan Vertonghen. The Arsenal captain has also been troubled by injuries over the last 18 months – he managed only 21 appearances in all competitions last season – though he remains a classy defender on his day and knows the Premier League inside out having spent the last five seasons at the Emirates. Furthermore, he could be available for a relatively low price, given Arsenal would rather cash in on him this summer than losing him for free in 12 months when his deal expires. |
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