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Hot Football Transfer Gossip: Man Utd ‘target Barcelona star Rakitic’, Everton ‘want Schneiderlin’
By a conservative estimate, Manchester United have probably been linked with about 100 players since the last transfer window closed, but if you had to make a best XI out of all of them - just because you were really bored/depressed - then today’s newest addition to the club’s list of targets would probably get in it.
The Star says Jose Mourinho is “eyeing an audacious raid” for Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic, which is mainly interesting because he’s a good player and he hasn’t been linked with Mourinho’s side before. The downsides are that it’s hard to imagine a scenario where this would actually happen, and that it’s in the Star.
The tabloid says Mourinho believes the Croatian “is not appreciated” by Barca manager Luis Enrique, although Enrique has picked him 18 times this season so he clearly appreciates him a little bit. The Portuguese coach is tipped to make a £35m bid for Rakitic and offer him a “starring role” in his United side.
In other words, Jose’s only hope is that Rakitic is incredibly egotistical and is fed up of living in the shadow of Lionel Messi.
There is likely to be space at Old Trafford for Rakitic if he comes, with the Telegraph reporting that current Red Devils midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin will leave the club in January.
Everton boss Ronald Koeman is tipped to offer the Frenchman a “new start”, although West Brom would also be prepared to match the Toffees’ £20m bid.
If for some reason Schneiderlin were to opt for the Hawthorns over Goodison Park, then Koeman would turn to Sevilla’s Steven Nzonzi, although he would be more expensive at £25m.
Manchester City are the latest club to be linked with January’s must-have defender, Virgil van Dijk. The Mail says Pep Guardiola will target the Southampton centre-back as a long-term replacement for Vincent Kompany and also wants Sporting Lisbon’s William Carvalho to fill Yaya Toure’s boots when he leaves.
Elsewhere, Chelsea are not going to bother trying to sign £50m-rated defensive target Kalidou Koulibaly until the summer due to his involvement in the African Cup of Nations in January (Sun), Arsenal are set to beat Liverpool to the signature of 16-year-old Exeter City sensation Ethan Ampadu (Liverpool Echo) and Man Utd chiefs are “twitching” because they will have to pay Monaco an extra £8m if Anthony Martial scores 25 goals for the club - he currently has 21 (Express). So it’s actually been very considerate of Martial to keep his goalscoring to an absolute minimum this season while the club decides whether to sell him. What a lovely guy.
