There’s conflicting reports saying Barca have released Pjanic and Umititi or that they’ve offered to cancel their contracts which thus far haven’t been accepted, as they desperately need to reduce their wage bill. They only signed Pjanic last season for €60m, albeit he was somewhat part of a swap deal that saw Arthur head to Juve for about €70m. If there is truth in the rumours though and both players end up being free agents, I think Pjanic would be a good addition albeit he’ll likely have a ton of sides offering him a deal. At 31 this’ll be his last big contract too. Umtiti is a quality defender and he’s left footed but incredibly injury prone. I think he may struggle to find a club unless he were to accept either a pay as you play deal or one that sees him earn a moderate salary with very high bonuses.
Milenkovic's name has come up again At this rate we'll be starting next season with a back three of Kounde, Andersen and Milenkovic with Rodon and Tanganga in reserve
Ally Gold has said he understands that Nuno is keeping Sess with the team next season, apparently wanted him at Wolves. All being well should be a good battle for that LWB role this season with him and Reguilon. Reports elsewhere have said: We've made contact with Insigne (Corriere dello sport) We’re expected to bid for Joaquin Correa (Alfredo Pedula) We’ve contacted Barca for Pjanic (AS) Brighton would like Rodon, on loan or perm (Daily Mail) - **** off!
Rodon on loan to Brighton could be a very smart move, especially if White moves as expected and he'd be guaranteed decent playing time. Brighton were ridiculously tough to break down most of last season. Had one of the best defensive records and overall stats in the league despite their low finish. Learning from Potter with the likes of Dunk and Burn tutoring him could be a real boost to his development in the grander scheme of things, especially given that we're unlikely to shift all three stooges in one window. Also it might sweeten the palate for a deal for Lamptey. Spend a decent package on one quality CB, send Rodon off to develop and get another quality CB back next summer.
If anything, surely Tanganga getting a loan makes more sense as Rodon's had regular minutes at Swansea and the Wales team while Tanganga really needs a full season under his belt Of course, Tanganga getting loaned likely means Dier remains for another season...
Maybe. I just think we'll struggle to get a club as good as Brighton to look at Tanganga. As you say, he is quite a way behind Rodon in his development and had another injury ridden season last year. On the rare occasion he did play, he often failed to make a mark on the game. I doubt we'd find anyone higher than mid table Championship to offer him regular minutes. Rodon is so much closer to being the 'finished article' but unless we're planning on playing him every week and rotating in one of the three stooges for the ESL and cup games, I'd prefer he goes somewhere he'll pick up decent minutes but also learn from highly experienced and competent team mates.
I'm sure one day Paddy power will make a joke about Man Utd being in the middle of their worst trophy drought for over thirty years...
Paddy Power are the same as talkBALLS, they always take the piss out of the same clubs but never dare take the piss out of others Of course, this has nothing to do with how they fear that if they took the piss out of Man Utd, gullible punters might not bet their houses on them winning every trophy Or the fact that Paddy Power and the totally legal and above board Sky Bet are the same company
"Man Utd sign player" is hardly an insult Comparing us to relegation-threatened Southampton is Also, there's a minor undercurrent of PP laughing in the faces of two years worth of gullible punters considering how many "Sancho will sign for Man Utd this year, we promise" stories Sky Sports News have pumped out which Flutter Entertainment (who own Paddy Power, Sky Bet and BetFair) have done quite well from
I'd be gutted if we even contemplated loaning out Rodon next season . Hes 23 and ready to be a regular in our defence especially if we play 3 at the back.
Alfredo Pedulla claims we're looking at Joaquin Correa The obvious thing that sticks out about Correa is that he's not an out-and-out striker, he's more in the Baggio/Del Piero mold (or, to look at it another way, the Dybala mold...) so he's not a 20+ goal a season player as he averages a little under 1 in 3 but a very useful cog in Lazio's machine Of course, this comes with the usual "Paratici tried to sign him for Juve last year" claims that we're reading a lot these days
Milenkovic Watch Nicola Schira claims that Paratici has made contact with Fiorentina to sign Nikola Milenkovic, with a fee of around €25m being bandied about Assuming we play a back three next season, is the plan to bring in two CBs (let's say Milenkovic and Andersen) and have one CB remain (preferably Rodon/Tanganga, more likely Dier/Sanchez) or are we considering a completely new back three with Rodon & Tanganga in reserve? Or, you know, the third option where Tomiyasu is part of the plan...
More talk of Pjanic again. With Fabio supposedly pushing for it. This deal should definitely happen, not even because he’d very likely be the best creative player at the club if he joined, but because he’d already have a quality chant ready made for him… Pjanic on the streets of London
