Manchester United were linked with a deadline day swoop for Wesley Sneijder last year, but it never materialised. What lies ahead tomorrow?
Manchester United transfer deadline day preview.
Last year Manchester United fans almost jumped up out of their seats when Sky Sports reported Wesley Sneijder was on his way to Manchester. It was a hoax. Sky Sports had been taken in too.
It was brushed under the carpet, and little else was heard about Manchester United’s number one transfer target later that day. United had a quiet deadline, and let everybody else get on with it.
As Sneijder suffered a disastrous season at Inter, and United slipped agonisingly short of the league title, both parties can only look back on what might have been.
So what could be this year? Do United have the potential to pull a big surprise out the bag, like supporters so hoped they would have done last season?
The club are not notorious for their deadline day activity. In fact they have not signed anybody on the August transfer deadline day since 2008, when they sealed a £30 million switch for Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham, with minutes to spare.
Sir Alex Ferguson has indicated the club may have spent their last penny of the summer already, but don’t expect everybody at Old Trafford to have turned their phones off and carrying on as usual, they will be carefully monitoring developments, particularly what their rivals are doing.
Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, and Chelsea are all expected to make late moves, and United would be prudent to consider it.
They have done well this summer, signing Shinji Kagawa, Angelo Henriquez, Nick Powell, Alexander Buttner, and remarkably, Robin van Persie, but supporters still do not have the established central midfield force they crave.
Even the relatively affordable Moussa Dembele was allowed to slip through the net, with United feeling he was overpriced, with Tottenham getting their man. Spurs have now been linked again with Joao Moutinho, a midfielder the Red Devils were reported to have put the feelers out earlier this summer. It would be a long shot, but they could elect to solve their longstanding problems – which were exposed by Everton in their opening game, with a huge bid, if word is reached that he is available.
Players will leave, Berbatov’s exit is almost complete, Federico Macheda and Bebe are expected to go out on loan, and there could be a number of other talented youngsters joining them.
The wildcard is Nani, who is wanted by Zenit St Petersburg, and if United did elect to sell, we’re betting there would be other parties from across Europe willing to do the bidding.
United may use Nani’s sale to fund a bid for Moutinho if they decide to be bold, or even go for a like for like swap and ditch the winger and bring in a new wide man, with Nicolas Gaitain linked once again.
As for Sneijder, he remains at Inter, and he won’t be coming this year, that ship has sailed. The probability is that United have closed the chequebook for the summer, but don’t rule out a big surprise just yet, especially if they decide to cash in on their number 17.
What do you expect to happen tomorrow with regard to United?
image: © Patrick de Laive
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