Bangers and mash

Return to the normal quiet summer's day today.
The most interesting story is this, from L'Equipe:

Après un prêt de six mois à Lorient, Gabriel Obertan ne devrait pas repasser par la case Bordeaux. Selon les informations de L'Équipe, l'international Espoirs serait sur le point de s'engager avec Manchester United. L'affaire pourrait même se finaliser ce lundi. «C'est effectivement une grande possibilité, a confirmé le président des Girondins, Jean-Louis Triaud. Manchester le veut et nous, on serait ravi de voir Gabriel évoluer dans un tel club. On officialisera le moment venu». Le montant du transfert n'a pas été communiqué. Un accord entre les deux clubs aurait été trouvé depuis plusieurs semaines.

Thought I'd leave it in the original French, because it's Google translation makes little sense, 101greatgoals.com, where I saw the story originally, tells us the gist:

Rumours are rapidly circulating that Sir Alex Ferguson is set to make his second surprise move in the transfer market by targetting the relatively unknown talent of Bordeaux’s 20-year-old striker Gabriel Obertan.

French newspaper L’Equipe broke the story this Monday, backing up their whispers with quotes from Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud saying “it’s actually a great opportunity, we would love to see Gabriel evolve at such a club.”

According to the French paper an agreement between the Red Devils and Bordeaux has been in place for the last few weeks, as the English champions look to sign a player who is also reportedly being eyed by Inter Milan, AC Milan and Arsenal. ...

Obertan has the ability to stretch opposition defences with his searing pace and nifty footwork. Switching wings regularly, rather than a conventional striker who plays through the middle, Obertan is seen more as a supporting forward rather than a forward able to play up-top on his lonesome.

The 101greatgoals.com link also includes a link to some video of him, which doesn't really tell us a lot, hard to judge anyone in 3 minutes.

Here, the Michael Owen stories are drying up, with only Kevin Garside in The Telegraph still giving his opinion:

Faced with the difficulty of selling Manchester in a beauty contest, Ferguson has opted for a 29 year-old footballer broadly written off as a serious front-line option. The Newcastle years have stripped the veneer from Owen's résumé. The broken metatarsal on the last day of 2005, the knee injured on his return at the World Cup six months later that subsequently kept him out for the best part of a year and the hernia operation at the back end of 2007 killed the Newcastle experiment and the aura that surrounded him. Ferguson is investing in the Owen of old, the preternatural poacher who set fire to records in his youth.

Experts would have it that Owen has lost a yard of pace. How do they measure that? Not by a stop watch. It is at best an assumed position informed by watching Owen toil in limited company. Usain Bolt would look sluggish in a Newcastle shirt of last season's vintage. Let's see how slow Owen appears in a red shirt.

The Mail nicks the Rooney bangs his head story from yesterday's Mirror.
And The Mail also link us with Yaya Toure:

Manchester United have asked about Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure amid growing concern over the fitness of Owen Hargreaves.

England midfielder Hargreaves has been restricted to just 25 appearances since joining United from Bayern Munich for £17m two years ago, and there are worries over his future after two major knee operations last season.