Manchester United players THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL TRANSFER WINDOW WAS AS INTERESTING AS THE FOOTBALL SEASON ITSELF. AS THE SUMMER TRANSFER CAME TO A CLOSE ON MONDAY NIGHT, SEYI NATHANIEL TAKES A LOOK AT SOME OF THE PLAYERS THAT WERE TOUTED FOR A MOVE BUT STAYED PUT AND THE POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER MOVE IN THE WINTER TRANSFER WINDOW That Manchester United was able to sign Marouane Fellaini minutes before Monday’s deadline, did little to appease the Old Trafford faithful and puts the club’s new chief executive, Ed Woodward under serious scrutiny, most especially after talk of bringing back Cristiano Ronaldo and the possibility of enticing Gareth Bale away from his Real Madrid dream did not materialise. Man U also failed to sign Cesc Fabregas, Thiago Alcantara, Athletic Bilbao star Ander Herrera and Leighton Baines. The collapse of deals for Ander Herrera, Fabio Coentrao and Sami Khedira also left many questions for Woodward to answer. It is obvious that Manchester United will go for another bid for Herrera, Baines, Coentrao and perhaps Fabregas during the winter transfer window. For Chelsea, attempt to sign Wayne Rooney did not see the light of the day and there is the probability that coach Jose Mourinho will try again in the summer. Despite being the subject of two rejected bids from Chelsea this summer, Rooney produced a man-of-the-match performance for United during a goalless draw with Chelsea. And after claiming last week that he would lodge a third bid for Rooney following the game, Mourinho admitted he will now look elsewhere for a new striker if the England forward fails to encourage Chelsea to make a move within the next 48 hours. “We are going to signing another player if he is not coming. If he is not coming, I want to close another player. How long will we wait? 24 or 48 hours? “ Mourinho asked. When asked whether Chelsea would lodge a third bid for Rooney, Mourinho added: “We have to speak, but I think United must be a very special club.” Chelsea refused to budge over David Luiz despite Barcelona making the Brazilian their prime target. The Stamford Bridge club’s hierarchy was swift to reject an opening £35million bid for the central defender when it arrived from the Spanish champions. Mourinho was adamant saying that the Brazilian is a cornerstone of his new Blues, and the Londoners did not consider any discussion about a transfer unless Barca are willing to put £50m on the table. The Catalans believe Luiz, 26, wanted to join them and that his desire to force through a possible switch can help them. That offer was dismissed immediately by the Blues’ board. Luiz was not Barca’s only target to resolve their central defence problem. Their attempt to sign Thiago Silva was resisted by PSG President, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, as he fired a furious warning at Barcelona over their push. Agitated by Barca’s pursuit of his star Brazilian defender, Al-Khelaifi said: “Thiago Silva will be with us for the Champions Trophy against Bordeaux. Thiago wants to play for this trophy. He has a four-year contract with us. Thiago will not go to Barça, but you should know that we are following players from FC Barcelona.” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expressed his admiration for Juan Mata but Jose Mourinho insisted that Mata remains integral to his Chelsea plans, despite his limited involvement so far this season. Mata was left out of the side to face Manchester United swelling speculation over his future but Mourinho says the Spaniard is happy at Stamford Bridge. Joe Kinnear failed in his mission to land reinforcements for Newcastle United’s first-team squad, as a summer of frustration ended with more questions than answers about the direction of the club under Mike Ashley. Ashley’s controversial decision to appoint Kinnear was not vindicated by success in the transfer market as the Magpies saw the summer transfer window snap shut with just a single signing – Loic Remy on a loan deal from Queens Park Rangers. Despite all of the bravado and promises that Kinnear made upon his arrival, he was unable to do deals for Darren Bent last month and the capture of Bafetimbi Gomis also eluded him. He had been tasked with bringing in two strikers and a left winger at the start of August, after Newcastle opted out of signing a centre-back following Fabricio Coloccini’s decision to commit to the club. Newcastle’s interest in a plethora of players including Anthony Pilkington of Norwich, Demba Ba, Etienne Capoue of Toulose and Lille’s Florian Thauvin also came to nothing. There is no doubt that failure of leading clubs to land some targeted players will make the winter window which ordinarily use to be quiet very interesting.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 01:50:32 +0000
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