A round-up of news and gossip relating to Manchester United over the past 24 hours.
Manchester United beat South African side AmaZulu 1-0 in the first game of their pre-season tour yesterday thanks to a Federico Macheda goal in the first half. The game was played out in front of over 50,000 spectators who saw Shinji Kagawa given his first run-out in a United shirt albeit only for the remaining few minutes. The team play Ajax Cape Town on Saturday before travelling to China.
In potentially exciting news for United fans, The Mirror report that Sir Alex Ferguson believes he has won the £20 million race for Robin Van Persie, beating city rivals Manchester City and Italian champions Juventus. According to the report, the United manager envisions a lethal strike partnership between Van Persie and Rooney to reclaim the title away from rivals City.
This is contradictory to Sky Italia reports who claim that an enquiry by United was given short shrift by Arsenal who still harbour hope of retaining their talisman.
Young United defender Zeki Fryers arrived at Tottenham Hotspur’s training ground on Thursday to finalise a move, according to Goal.com. The 19-year-old left-back becomes the third youth player to leave Old Trafford in recent months following the departures of Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison to Juventus and West Ham respectively. The player became out of contract this summer and was unable to agree a new deal with United due to the club’s reluctance to meet wage demands. The youngster made 6 appearances for the Manchester club last season and will look for more opportunities under Villas-Boas’ Spurs.
Andre Villas-Boas has told clubs interested in playmaker Luka Modric that he will only be sold if Spurs’ valuation of the player is met. Real Madrid, Manchester United and nouveau riche PSG are believed to be interested in the 26-year-old Croatian who has expressed his desire to leave Tottenham but they will have to expend £35 million before Tottenham yield to a deal.
TalkSport pick up on Dortmund’s Lewandowski’s admission that his dream has always been to play in the Premier League. Are these more encouraging signals from the Polish striker whose national team coach had stated during the European Championships that the player was on his way to United? The player enjoyed great chemistry with United new boy Kagawa and may be looking to join his former team-mate.
Reuters have reported that Manchester United will launch its initial public offering next week in attempts to raise $300 million. The club’s stock floatation on the New York Stock Exchange has exempted it from announcing its yearly results. The club has an approximate £425 million debt. Its attempt to float on the New York Stock Exchange is the corollary of failed attempts on the Singapore and Hong Kong stock exchanges.
images: © Gordon Flood
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