Manchester United
It would appear that José Mourinho is now quite happy to wait until January to bring in any more players. This has always been on the cards as he has already expressed how happy he is with the players brought in up to now and has stressed that Dithering Ed has managed to get 75% of his targets through the door.
It is not, we repeat not, as some people may surmise, an admission that DE has completely failed with all his other targets, even if he has.
According to the press, Mourinho’s list of players, given to Ed back in March, was longer than a tailback on the M6 in August. Also, according to the press, they have been 90% of the way to making about eleven or twelve signings where terms have been agreed and the only detail left was to agree a fee with the club concerned.
Now we know that the press are prone to the occasional slight exaggeration, the occasional half truth and maybe even the occasional guess but this transfer window they have managed to outdo even themselves.
Never mind a “who has spent the most money?” spot on Sky Sports News, how about a “who has told the biggest porkies?” spot instead.
With Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matić all safely tucked up in the Old Trafford changing rooms only Ivan Perisić remains of the original targets we THINK Mourinho wanted. Whether waiting until January will actually get him or not remains to be seen but, by then, José will certainly know whether there is any urgent need for him or not.
There is also the possibility that another player will emerge, such as Fabinho of Monaco, who will, by January, be of more use to the team than Perisić who now seems likely to sign a new contract with Inter Milan.
At present, with United scoring goals and not conceding them, albeit that they have only played West Ham United, the urgency to recruit is not as pressing as it once was.
Dithering Ed now has four months to work on Mourinho’s one-player list. Let’s see if that’s enough time for him.
Manchester City
According to the previously mentioned press, Arsenal are likely to hang on to Alexis Sanchéz for another season. Though that may be a fairly ridiculous thing to do, it is unsurprising given that uncle Arséne quite often thinks that the ridiculous thing to do is THE thing to do.
So, assuming that he is still on the throne at The Etihad, Sanchéz will fly, free as a bird, into the waiting arms of Pep Guardiola next season, Not only that but he won’t cost a dime, which means that City will be able to pay him even more than if they had had to find a transfer fee! Isn’t life grand when you’re a diminutive Chilean footballer!
This delay in a deal for Sanchéz, according to the aforementioned press, has resulted in Guardiola turning his immediate attention to a diminutive Belgian. Currently employed by Chelsea, Eden Hazard had the opportunity to go to either City or United when first moving to the Premier League, he chose Stamford Bridge. Still, we all make mistakes.
It still seems much more likely that, if he does decide to leave that bastion of togetherness which is Chelsea, he will head for Spain and turn up at either Real Madrid or Barcelona.
If that turns out to be the case, then the City story, along with approximately 80% of all the other transfer “stories” will have been yet another insult to the intelligence of the football following public.
We await, with anticipation, the January transfer window because, according to the press, it’s going to be good, and, as we all know, they are never wrong.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 