WHY SAY ANYTHING?

Where is Paul Pogba going to be playing his football next season? Well, it depends upon your rag of choice. According to The London Evening Standard he is going to Turin where he will find Juventus waiting for him. This deal would see Miralem Pjanić go the other way.

But wait a minute! The Daily Express say that he is going to Barcelona and, not only that, but they know the real reason why! He wants to play with Lionel Messi, so there!

So, reading between the lines, Paul Pogba will be going nowhere and will line up alongside Fred and Nemanja Matić in United’s midfield in the coming season.

They will sit just in front of Harry Maguire who is going to be signed on deadline day, Toby Alderweireld who will be signed for £60 million and Yerry Mina, who has already agreed terms.

A last ditch attempt to sign Willian will also be made.

So, having begged for one more signings before the window closes, lucky little José is going to get at least four according to the educated press.

Most of this is according to The London Evening Standard who seem to spend an unhealthy amount of time with their noses in Manchester United’s business. Forgive our ignorance but, the last time we checked and apart from in the minds of a lot of misguided cockneys who can’t seem to appreciate any of the myriad of clubs in the area, Manchester United is not a London club.

Across Manchester…..

And serial misser-of-good-chances and occasional scorer-of-flukey-goals Raheem Sterling has decided he is as good as Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Agüero. To this end he is prepared to let Pep Guardiola continue to manage him for the bargain price of only £300K per week.

Either we know nothing about football, (which is a possibility), or he is deluded. He will be very lucky to get in the starting eleven this term with very strong competition from players who are much better than he is.

Bernardo Silva has been performing much more consistently than the Jamaican/Englishman as has Leroy Sané so he surely won’t displace either of those two. Will £60 million new signing Riyad Mahrez sit on the bench while Sterling plays? Unlikely and he certainly isn’t going to play in Fernandinho’s position.

That leaves Kevin De Bruyne as the one who will have to make way for Sterling. The chances of that happening are about the same as Pep Guardiola managing Real Madrid.

So he needs to be careful what he wishes for as he could just as easily find himself out of the door as counting extra money.

Away from Manchester…..

Tottenham still hope to sign Jack Grealish, an attacking midfielder and, having been hammered by Girona in a very recent friendly, could probably do with reintegrating three players they are currently trying to sell.

They shipped four goals to an average Spanish side yet are selling two international defenders and an international defensive midfielder.

They already have an average goalkeeper about to return from being very average in the World Cup so leaving him exposed behind average defenders does not auger well for the immediate future.

Never mind, at least Daniel Levy knows what he is doing even if Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t!

Jürgen Klopp, of course, knows exactly what he is doing and this knowledge may even get his team into second place.

There will be however, as always, a stage in the coming season when a small implosion derails them and tests his management ability. This is what will decide Liverpool’s finishing position, (having a decent goalkeeper will also probably help their cause).

And finally…..

Arsenal fans are loving their new manager. Apparently Unai Emery embraced his players in the tunnel after their fortuitous penalty victory over Chelsea, something which fans were quick to point out would never have happened in the days of Stubborn Old Man.

Let’s hope this spirit of goodwill to all men is still present at the end of the season when Arsenal finish outside of the top four and trophy-less again.

Chelsea fans are probably loving their new manager, Maurizio Sarri, despite losing against Arsenal as he promises to play attacking, exciting football this coming season, something not seen regularly at Stamford Bridge since the days of Tommy Docherty!

Let’s hope this feel-good factor is still there at the end of the season when Chelsea finish outside of the top four and trophy-less.