Gossip: Ronaldo 'orders Real to sign De Gea', Mourinho 'hints at PSG move' and more
Footballers are sometimes asked to pick their “fantasy XI” for a bit of fun. You know the ones – it’s a team of the best players they have played with, or would like to play with. And they put themselves in it too, so you end up with a team that has Pele and Darren Bent playing up front together, for example.
Most players have done it in a TV interview or a website feature at some point, but there’s only one man with the audacity to try to bring his fantasy XI together in actual real life. It’s Cristiano Ronaldo, of course.
So far this season, the Real Madrid forward has reportedly demanded the club sell Gareth Bale, told them to pick Marco Asensio more often and strongly advised them to sign William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon.
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Now he’s decided to sort out a goalkeeper for his fantasy team, and the man he wants is David de Gea.
According to the Mirror, Ronaldo has “ordered” Madrid bosses to sign the Manchester United goalkeeper. Which is fortunate, because they have been trying to sign him for three years anyway.
But that’s not quite enough for CR7, because he has ordered Real to sign some other goalkeepers too, depending on what you read.
The Star says Ronaldo wants Thibaut Courtois from Chelsea if Real can’t get De Gea, while ESPN claims Cristiano has told his bosses to chase “De Gea or Courtois or Barcelona’s Marc Andre ter Stegen”. Basically, he is very clear in his mind that Keylor Navas is not good enough to be in his Fantasy XI.
Mourinho tempted by PSG project?
The next logical step is for Cristiano to pick Real’s next manager, and there’s one obvious candidate: him.
But failing that, what about his compatriot Jose Mourinho?
The Portuguese tactician declared this weekend that he would not finish his career at Man Utd. But rather than going to Real Madrid next, he is apparently thinking of Paris Saint-Germain.
The Guardian, among other papers, report on Mourinho “hinting” that he would like his next managerial move to take him to the City of Love.
The United boss is quoted as saying, “At the moment in Paris there is something special. Magic, quality, youth, it’s fantastic.”
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Think you forgot to mention MONEY, Jose. Surely that part hasn’t escaped your attention.
Meanwhile, there is some good news for Liverpool in the Express, which says Barcelona are set to ditch their pursuit of Philippe Coutinho and target Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara instead. He would probably cost a lot more than the £18m Barca sold him for four years ago though.
Elsewhere, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal are tracking Barcelona’s 17-year-old striker Abel Ruiz, who is regarded as one of Spain’s (Catalonia’s?) top prospects but has a £3m buy-out clause in his contract (Mirror), Wigan Athletic are set to be taken over by a “wealthy Chinese group” (Sun) and Liverpool will reject all loan moves for teenage striker Rhian Brewster in January but will allow Lazar Markovic and Lloyd Jones to leave (Sun). Yes, Lazar Markovic does still play for Liverpool.
