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- United in surprise £16m bid for World Cup winner
- United poised for £17m offer for Dutch international
- New signings imminent at United
| United in surprise £16m bid for World Cup winner Posted: 21 Jul 2014 03:55 AM PDT
World Cup winner Hummels has been on United’s radar for over a year but there looked to be little chance of him leaving the Westfalenstadion this summer. According to Spanish newspaper Sport, however, United have agreed a €20m – £15.8m – for the German international.
According to the report, Dortmund have agreed to let Hummels go for just €20m, having secured the singing of 20-year-old centre-back Mathias Ginter just a couple of days ago and United looked poised to beat Barcelona in the race to secure Hummels’ signature. There are, however, a few details that do not seem to make much sense at the moment. Firstly, the fee seems ridiculously low for a player who’s won two Bundesliga titles with Dortmund as well as a World Cup with Germany and who, even more importantly, is under contract with his the Bundesliga outfit until 2017. Despite being only 25-years-old, Hummels has played over 200 times for Dortmund since moving to the Westfalenstadion from Bayern Munich in 2009 and his international experience has contributed to make him one of Louis Van Gaal’s main targets this summer, as United look to replace Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. Hummels would undoubtedly represent a formidable signing for United, particularly at the price indicated by Sport, and former United captain Bryan Robson insisted it’s paramount the club secures world class defenders this summer. “When you lose three class defenders like that you need to bring in a really top-drawer centre-half to the club," Robson told Press Association Sport. "That would really give us a chance of winning the title. “You look back over the years and United have had Brucey and Pally as a pairing, and we've had Nemanja and Rio more recently. “Then we had Jaap Stam. He was a really dominant and aggressive player and we need one of those to come in to the club.”
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| United poised for £17m offer for Dutch international Posted: 21 Jul 2014 02:48 AM PDT
Blind impressed for Holland at the World Cup, where he was an ever-present figure for the Oranje and netted his country’s second goal in their 3-0 win over Brazil in the third spot play-off, and has attracted interest from a host of European clubs but United look poised to test Ajax’s resolve.
According to reports on Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, United are set to table an offer of over £17m for the Dutchman, with Van Gaal looking to strengthen his defensive options, particularly given Patrice Evra’s move to Juventus could be completed in the next 48 hours. That would leave Luke Shaw as United’s only options at left-back and while the former Southampton man is thought to be in pole-position for a place in the starting XI, Van Gaal is understandably keen to secure an alternative to the 19-year-old England international and Blind could fit the role perfectly. A defensive midfielder by trade – the position he normally occupies for Ajax – Blind can also be deployed as left-back, a role he’s occupied with excellent results for Holland. Throughout the World Cup, Van Gaal opted to play Blind, son of former Ajax captain and currently Holland assistant manager, Danny, as either a left-back in a 5-3-2 or 4-3-3 formation or as left wing-back when the Oranje opted for a 3-5-2 line-up. The choice of deploying Blind as left-back was initially met with surprise by many Dutch journalist, given the 24-year-old isn’t as quick as Holland’s other options at left-back. However, what Blind lacks in pace he makes more than up for with an excellent reading of the game and a strong tactical discipline, characteristics which have endeared him to Van Gaal. Last night Ed Woodward told MUTV that fans should expect more signings this summer and Blind could well be one of them. Despite being only 24, Blind has already made over 140 appearances for Ajax since breaking into the first team in 2008 – he spent a season on loan at Groningen in 2009-10 – and has won four consecutive Eredivisie titles with the Amsterdam club. |
| New signings imminent at United Posted: 20 Jul 2014 11:47 PM PDT
Having already spent more than £50m on Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw, United have lost Ryan Giggs, who retired at the end of last season, while Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Federico Macheda and Alex Buttner have all left the club and the quartet is set to be follow suit by another couple of players, including Patrice Evra.
On the arrivals front, meanwhile, United have been linked with host of players, including Arturo Vidal, Daley Blind and Mats Hummels and Woodward insisted that United are financially capable to compete with Europe’s elite this summer, as Louis Van Gaal begins to rebuild a squad left in tatters by David Moyes’ tenure. "There is no fixed budget. Financially we are extremely strong, we have funds available," Woodward told MUTV in an interview that aired last night on United’s in-house channel. "Louis is the boss and is assessing what's going on but we have been in dialogue for some time about targets so there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes … we're continuing to move forward on some of those targets … so watch this space. "The time he [Van Gaal] spends here as well as in America, he'll be able to assess what he's got and continue to tweak the decisions if we need to. We want to do what it takes to win the title." For the first time since 1995, United won’t be able to attract players by offering them the chance of playing in the Champions League, but United’s executive vice-chairman believes missing out on European football this season won’t affect the club’s chances of attracting the best players in the world. "I've experienced a lot of conversations with agents and players and we are still a huge attraction to top football stars around the world. There is no doubt about that. We've already invested in two new fantastic players." |
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