Doctor's Advocate

Bit of a video round up to start the day.  Admittedly I'm late on these, so everyone's probably seen them, only Blogger was down and wouldn't let me post them this morning (when they were already late), but I'd already written it, so figured I might as well shot it up, despite its irrelevance.
First off, Sir Alex gets an honorary degree from the University of Stirling -



His advice, in his speech: work hard and and be humble.  Be humble?  Man Utd? Hmmmm.
Secondly, we've completed the David De Gea signing, here's his first interview-



In Spanish with subtitles, he says he's got the experience to "make a contribution" even though he's still only young, wants to win the Champions League and wants to get on with meeting the players and starting training.

Tennis Bastard

I'm wondering whether-

a) all football journalists (except the most hopeless ones) take Wimbledon fortnight off;

b) all football journalists double as a tennis journalist, so have more important things to do during Wimbledon

c) absolutely nothing worthwhile is happening in the (Manchester United related) world of football.

d) everyone involved with Man Utd loves Wimbledon and refuses to work this fortnight

Because I've scoured (yes, scoured) this morning and I've come up with three stories.  Maybe I've missed something, but I don't think so... And that's 3 stories in total.  Not three stories worth reading.

The first one is this, from The Sun, "Fergie Signs a Real Stunner" A story about how attractive De Gea's girlfriend is.  She's a Spanish popstar apparently.  The article does continue into a bit of profile of the more trivial aspects of De Gea's life:

His old school master at the Castilla School is Jose Luis Garcia who describes De Gea as an inspiration.

Garcia said: "David was a very, very good student.

"He came from a very good family background and always had a very positive attitude. He was with us from the age of four to 17.

"Academically he was very good, although not so much in English — he wasn't very good at that!

"But, of course, he was brilliant at all sports. He excelled at basketball and football. He had very big hands so it is no surprise to us he's a goalkeeper.

"As soon as I saw his hands I just knew he'd end up a keeper," we've all said it...

The Mirror has some quotes from Macheda, whose back from a loan spell at Sampdoria:

"Psychologically it was not easy because to go from United to Sampdoria and to fight to avoid the drop was a difficult situation," Macheda said to Sky Italia.

"I wanted to have an experience in Italy but now I want to remain in the Premier League"

And The Daily Star decide that the day after Nani announces he's looking forward to staying with us is the day to spread rubbish gossip about Juventus wanting to sign Nani for £26million.

But at least they're printing something... I suppose it's a no win situation, I criticise them for printing rubbish or I criticise them for not printing anything.... let's just get the new season started.... please....

...and I don't even like tennis...

Blanket Warm

Slightly late in the day, but here's the paper round-up.

Main story today, David De Gea's medical and imminent signing:

David De Gea underwent a medical at Manchester United on Monday afternoon and is expected to shortly complete a £17.8m transfer from Atlético Madrid which will push Sir Alex Ferguson's summer spending past the £50m mark.

The Daily Star and The Mirror embarrass themselves by basing their reports on this round a blanket that was used to try and shield De Gea from photographers, rather than on the actual signing.  The less said the better.

Quotes from Nani about wanting to stay make the papers this morning.  Here from the Daily Star:

“Of course I have to welcome everyone they sign, I think Manchester United is a fantastic club. When they bring in new ­players, they know if it is good for the team or not, and this has to help them. It is good for the team, we want more players to help us to win trophies. ...I’ve been there at United when Cristiano was there and ­Cristiano was one of the best players in the world. At the moment I have no worries about Young.”

The Mirror report that Newcastle have joined Sunderland in wanting to sign Darron Gibson.

Finally The Guardian report that Ryan Giggs managed to single-handedly increase Twitter's traffic last month, I'm not sure whether the two facts in this paragraph are connected, but if they are, Giggs is obviously very popular among the older ladies:

Twitter's UK audience jumped by a third between April and May as thousands of users tweeted about Giggs's alleged extra-marital affair. The number of female pensioners using the site also doubled month on month, according to online traffic figures released by UKOM/Nielsen on Monday.

Trash

To avoid doubt, this is a visual metaphor for The Daily Mirror

Back after a day off yesterday.  Had a brief scan and it didn't look like I missed anything major - or even minor, really - today's not much different.

One story I would have had yesterday is the quotes from Celtic's Emilio Izaguirre on our alleged interest in him (alleged by him that is).  Today The Mail seem to take him at his word and say we'll open talks with Celtic next month.  The Herald tell a different story, with quotes from his agent:

CELTIC have had no approach from Manchester United for Emilio Izaguirre.

Senior figures at the club were baffled by weekend comments from the Honduran left-back claiming that Sir Alex Ferguson, the Old Trafford manager, had spoken to Parkhead directors about him and expected to have further discussions next month. ...

“Emilio fully intends to fulfil the contract that binds him to Celtic. Any alleged sale to an English club is not a reality,” said Marco Tulio Suazo, the Honduran’s agent.

The Mail and The Mirror both report that we're interested in Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona, with The Mirror going so far to say we've put a bid in.  The Mirror piece has to be the worst article I've seen for a while, and given the rubbish The Mirror print that's saying something.  First they tell us Barca can't sell to us because they don't want to sell him to a Champions League rival but further down they tell us that Barca want to give him to Arsenal as part of a deal for Fabregas.  Arsenal are still in The Champions League aren't they?  They also say that the reason they won't sell to us is because we won't put a buy-back clause in the contract.  Not the Champions League thing then, it's the buy back clause... make your mind up.  They then finish the article by randomly slagging off Bolton, claiming it would be "bizarre" if he were to sign for them.  Was the sports editor off last night, or did this piece of trash get past him.

More trash in The Mirror - they appear to have had a reporter following Wayne Rooney around Glastonbury all day.  Brilliant, if only Rooney had punched him.

Finally, also in The Mirror,  a few quotes from Sir Alex which they got from some League Managers Association podcast:

“At United, Giggs, Neville and Scholes. Even Phil (Neville) and Nicky Butt, guys who were the spirit of the club. They have remained part of what I see is Manchester United.

“And all the players I’ve had here have played a part in that.

“But when I see something happening I have to act. In the case of Nicky Butt and Phil Neville I had to release them because I was getting to the stage where I was terrified of talking to them. Telling them they were not playing a game.

“And it wasn’t fair to them. They were good players. Players that played a big part in the resurrection of Manchester United, no doubt about that.

“So when the time came for me to let them go, I knew it was cutting strings. Loyal strings. And I didn’t enjoy it.

“But my job is to manage Manchester United. My job is to produce results. I’m not any different from anybody else. I need results here. I’ll not be regarded here – and the club will not be regarded – in the same way if I was unsuccessful.

Escape From Babylon

After all the excitement of there actually being some news yesterday, today it's back to business as usual, with the usual transfer "gossip" on offer.  

Today, out of the blue it's Johnny Evans on his way - to Wolves:

The Northern Ireland international defender, 23, has been on the Wolves boss' radar for a while.

And McCarthy could now be tempted to make a bid after failing to lure Birmingham's Roger Johnson and Matt Mills from Reading.

Evans is 12 months into a four-year deal and may slip down the Old Trafford pecking order after the arrival of Phil Jones from Blackburn for £16.5million.

But McCarthy could end up settling for a loan deal for Evans.

 The Daily Star spin the story 180° and make it Evans wanting to go, the headline - "Evans finds the way out", and Wolves are his "escape route" - the speculation being that because we've signed Phil Jones, Evans will want to go.  No sources, quotes, nothing but imagination.

Another example of two different approaches to the same story - Nani is on the verge of leaving in The Sun, but an integral part of our plans in The Independent. The Sun he's heading for "crunch talks" when he returns and demanding reassurance.  In The Independent:

However, it is understood United will not allow what they regard as key men to leave. There will be casualties, and it is hard to see Sunderland targets Darron Gibson and Wes Brown remaining beyond the end of August.

When his squad returns to training at the start of next month, though, Ferguson will be assuring Nani of his position in the Scot's plans for the future, and trying to convince his players they can meet the challenge Barcelona set with their devastating Wembley performance.

Mundane though it might be, I think I'll believe The Independent.

Much as I think Ashley Young is a good player and a good buy, Nigel Reo-Coker goes a little overboard in his praise, comparing him to Christiano Ronaldo:

“People have said United are lacking a bit of flair and creativity, since Ronaldo left.

“I think that is something he will definitely add to Manchester United.

“He has great vision and I am sure he will create a lot of goals for them, as well as scoring himself.

“I don’t think you can say Ashley will replace Ronaldo, as Ashley is going to be Ashley Young.

“But they are similar players in certain aspects.

“Ashley can create and score and can also contribute to the defensive side of the game.

“But I believe he has been taken there more for his creative aspects to bring in that extra bit of flair.”

My problem here is, firstly, it's the disingenuous, "I'm not saying he's like Ronaldo, of course, but he's like Ronaldo..." The second problem is, if he's not Ronaldo why is he specifically cited as adding "flair and creativity" to our side, that we've apparently been lacking, when Nani or Valencia, for instance, are not exactly lacking creativity and flair.  Rooney?  Berba?

The Daily Star headline a story where Park Ji-Sung says "I just want to stay at Manchester United" with "Juventus target Park."

And that's it.

Defiant

Today we're going to start with some actual news, not rumour, not speculation, not The Daily Mirror just making stuff up, but actual real "it's happened" news.

And that news is the signing of Ashley Young.  No one can decide on the price though, The Independent say 

£17m deal for Ashley Young, 25, from Aston Villa on a five-year deal that takes his wages up to around £80,000 a week

While The Guardian go with £15m, The Daily Star and The Telegraph go for it with £16m and £120,000 a week... pinch of salt anyone?

The Guardian sum up the reasoning for the purchase simply enough:

his arrival will offer Ferguson more variety in attack, with the England international capable of playing as a left-sided attacker or a centre-forward.

While The Daily Mail call us "predictable" and say Young will help "tackle that."

Daniel Taylor takes a more detailed look at what he offers on The Guardian's blog, more specifically in relation to Nani's place in the squad:

The question is whether Young has been bought as a squad-rotation player, as back-up to Nani, or whether Ferguson genuinely believes the England international can improve the team and is signing him on a five-year contract with the intention of integrating him as a fundamental part of his strongest XI. ...The player [Nani] has told Ferguson he prefers to operate on the right and it was no coincidence his form deteriorated after Antonio Valencia came back into the side in March after six months out with a broken leg, meaning he was shifted back to the left. Ferguson, however, has taken the view that Valencia – ignoring, for one moment, a dishevelled display in the Champions League final – offers the greater contribution.

All of this is to assume two things: firstly, that Young will be assigned to the left-sided attacking role in which we saw him at Villa last season and, secondly, that Nani will still be around when the new campaign starts with the Community Shield against Manchester City on 7 August.

While The Sun have some quotes from Valencia which they build into a story with the headline - "Valencia ready for wing war." The quotes that declare war?

"I heard about this on the news - I do not fear his arrival.

"The season is long, and under Alex Ferguson everyone will get their chance in United's key matches.

"Ashley is a good footballer and I believe that he will help us towards even more success next season.

"As for myself, I have two seasons left at United and I am convinced I will fulfil those. And maybe a few more years, too."

That's fighting talk... and "defiant" according to the caption under his picture in the article...

Mark Lawrenson talks rubbish in The Mirror - starting off with specifics - 

He needs to improve an extra 15 or 20 per cent to be able to hold his own in the sort of quality company he will be keeping.

You can't say Lawrenson doesn't know his figures (you can), I'm sure he's studied the performance levels of the top teams and knows the exact percentage young needs to improve, he's just being modest with his "15 or 20 per cent..."  To be fair to Lawrenson, the rest of the piece is pretty anodyne.

There's a few words from Young's old coaches and suchlike.  The Mirror have comment from Adrian Boothroyd, who managed him at Watford:

“Sir Alex will have done his homework and won’t be taking a player he didn’t think could add to them.

“Ashley has the work-ethic Park has got and I think he has got some of the quality and unpredictability to beat a player and create like Nani and Luis Antonio Valencia have got.

“He is sort of a mixture or hybrid of them - plus he is British which makes a big difference.

While The Sun have comment from Watford's old Youth coach, Chris Cummins:

"Ashley came to Watford as a lad of eight and worked his way through the system."His attitude was first class. He never missed a training session and from a very early age you could see how bright he was as a footballer."When he got to 16 there was a school of thought at Watford that he wasn't strong enough."As a result he wasn't offered a scholarship but he stayed on as a non-contract boy, training twice a week at night after school. I really felt there was something there.

"He listened, took the knocks and proved people wrong. He has proved his character and his ability and I couldn't be more pleased for him."

Quotes from the man himself abound, here from The Telegraph:

“To come here and play with such great players and have the chance to be part of a team that hopefully wins the 20th title would be amazing. The prospect of playing for one of the truly great clubs was one that I always looked at as a child and now that I am here I have to take the opportunity with both hands.

He certainly makes all the right noises.

One other story, on Owen Hargreaves possibly getting a chance to play on with MLS side Toronto FC.

Your kisses are wasted on me

I noted the other that Sanchez joining Barcelona wasn't a snub to us, and I still say that, but today there's a story of him actually snubbing City.  This story requires a note of caution - it's in the notoriously rubbish Mirror, but it's funny, and it gives hope for our signing him, so let's believe it:

Alexis Sanchez turned into a non-flying winger when he refused to get on a plane to join Manchester City in a stunning £30 million deal.

Chilean star Sanchez was cleared to leave his country’s training camp to speak to City about a move to the Premier League after the megabucks outfit stepped ahead of Barcelona and Manchester United with the best bid.

However Sanchez rocked his club Udinese by telling them he would not go as he does not consider City to be his favoured option - he would rather join United or speak to Barca to find out their plans. ...

They also put as favourites to sign Sanchez on the basis that we can pay all cash whereas Barca want to add players to the deal.

One player who is on his way to us is Ashley Young who completed his medical yesterday:

the England international travelled north to undergo his medical examination on Wednesday.

Young has already agreed personal terms and, if everything goes according to plan, an official announcement could take place on Thursday. United will not release the transfer value but it is thought to be around £15m.

Berba's agent wants talks with Man United to try and end the uncertainty - the sooner the better... The Mirror throw some more names in the hat for clubs "linked to" him, while the Daily Star also have clubs linked to him, the clubs The Manchester Evening News linked to him yesterday to be precise.

The Mirror claim Wes Brown has "opened talks" with Sunderland.

There's a few quotes from Anders Lindegaard in The Manchester Evening News on going on the American tour:

“In  the USA, it’s going to be especially important for the goalkeepers to play well because Edwin’s retired and the rest of us are fighting for  that jersey,” said Anders, who featured against Southampton and Crawley in the FA Cup before undergoing knee surgery in spring.

“I know it’s going to be a lot of hard work but I’m looking forward to it very much. ...“When you come from a small side in Norway you can’t prepare yourself for how big Manchester United is. But, on the other hand, it has the same mechanisms as any other club – people talk about the same things, they interact in the same way. There’s  nothing different in that respect – it’s just that this club is a million times bigger.“I’m enjoying my time in Manchester very much –  more and more with each day that passes, actually. I’m a happy human being at the moment and that’s what life is all about.”

Prolific

We'll have to stop meeting like this... Or not actually, seeing as the occasion is Javier Hernandez scoring again.  This time against Honduras, and it's not a classic by any stretch of the imagination, going in off his hip from about 3 yards out.  I'm too lazy to check but I think that's now 21 goals in 28 games for Mexico, and that's his seventh in the Gold-Cup, the second highest ever -

Don't Believe The Hype

No one stirs up debate quite like Berba. On the strength of a transfer rumour that not even all the papers picked up on the whole of my Twitter last night was awash with debate about how much we'd miss him.  Yes, not many people stopped to think that this is the season to make up rumours, or that just because they want Berba doesn't mean that Berba wants them or that we would sell him anyway.

The Manchester Evening News has a sensible look at the story:

French side Paris St Germain, backed by oil-rich new owners from Qatar and with new manager Leonardo at the helm, are keen on Berbatov’s style. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund also believe, having proved himself in the Bundesliga with former club Bayer Leverkusen, that he could add to their goal output. AC Milan are also on the look-out and could be ready to test the water.However, Berbatov’s agent insists there has been no movement yet for his client and says he wants to stay at Old Trafford.“There is no news because we have not heard anything from anyone,” said Emil Dantchev.“After we speak to Manchester United, we will know more but now he is very happy to be a Manchester United player."

So even if the rumour that PSG want him is true, reports of him going are greatly exaggerated.  The same article says that Joshua King is going to Borussia Monchengladbach on loan.

The Daily Mail's version of the story also includes a brief sentence that Oldham want Ben Amos on loan.

The other stories about today are just rehashes of the same old days old stuff - The Mirror run the Man City in last minute bid for Sanchez story again - get some new material...

And The Daily Star run the Sneijder battle between Man City and us story....

And that's it.

Targets

Here's a video of a few of our players doing a "facebook challenge", which involves trying to get the ball through a small hole in the top corner of the goal.  Once again it seems that Hernandez can do no wrong - while the others struggle to get anywhere near, Hernandez just hits the spot with his first shot.  And then does it again.

Time Stands Still

I've already written a short piece on one thing from the papers today, but this is concentrating on the actual football news.  Of which, frankly, there's very little.

There's some quotes from Phil Jones today on joining the club:

“I’m not sure when my first day is going to be.

“Hopefully, I will get a call from the gaffer and I’m looking forward ­to that.“Everyone knows they (United) are one of the biggest clubs on the planet. “It’s a massive move for me and I just can’t wait to get started. It’s a massive challenge.”“Chris Smalling has shown you can go there and play games for United.“He has done extremely well.“The gaffer has shown he is not afraid to put young faces in the team. When I get the chance, I am confident I will take it.”

The Daily Star report that Paris St. Germain want Berba:

It is understood members of the club’s new Middle East board held a meeting at the weekend with Berbatov’s agent Emile Dantchev.

And now they are preparing to make a formal offer to United for the 30-year-old who could be surplus to requirements.

The Manchester Evening News report that we're in a head-to-head battle with City for Sneijder:

both clubs have so far hit a brick wall in their hunt for a new central midfielder to pull the strings next season.

But the playmaker they both need and is still available – albeit at £30m – is Dutch World Cup superstar Sneijder.

Kinky Sex Makes The World Go Round

There's a piece on The Guardian website about The Daily Star and their "obsession" with Ryan Gigg's love life.  This may well be true, they always do like to kill stories, Jordan will not be happy that Giggs is taking front-pages that should rightfully be hers, and there was the summer where everyday for the entire run of Big Brother they featured a story about it on their front page, most of them being silly "fixing scandals" which generally made no sense.

My problem here is that singling out the Daily Star let's other papers off scott-free.  For instance The Daily Mail today has a "story" about Natasha Giggs.  Here's a story from yesterday's Sun about Natasha Giggs going shopping.  That's not obsessed with the story is it?  A story about a woman going shopping.  If you search "Giggs" on The Sun's website I'm sure you'd find at least one story per day.  Now, that's just as obsessed as The Daily Star, but a bit more hidden, The Daily Star are just a bit brazen at appealing to the lowest common denominator - just as they are when they run barely disguised racism, they say more openly what the Daily Mail cloak with respectability.

The Daily Mail are perhaps the worst offenders, because they make the greater play of taking the moral high-ground, while at the same time having the same obsession with salacious stories and the sordid detail of love-affairs, having bikini-clad women all over their website while complaining about the sexualisation of children.

So yes, let's slag off the The Daily Star (though there's a lot worse things to slag it off for than an obsession with Giggs), but let's not forget the other culprits too.

Bad Hangover

Think the papers are on some morning after the week before transfer lies hangover this morning. I.e. there's very little about, not even the usual made up rubbish.

The Telegraph are saying that Alexis Sanchez has decided to go to Barcelona, and his agent goes all Eric Cantona on Twitter:

A cryptic post on Twitter from the 22 year-old’s agent, Fernando Felicevich, has further added to the suspicion that a deal has been done. “ 'Everything’s gone fine until now’, said the pig with the apple in his mouth,” he wrote on Sunday.

The Chilean media has drawn a parallel with a similar statement posted by Felicevich after completing the sale of Gary Medel, the defensive midfielder, to Sevilla last season.

The Telegraph say in their headline that his moving to Barcelona is a "snub" to us, but I'm not sure signing for a club automatically qualifies as a snub to everyone else.  He has to be somewhere after all, can't please everybody.  The Sun claim that Man City are going to make a "last ditch" attempt to sign him.  He can snub them.

Getting desperate for things to include in this paper round up... so let's have a Owen Hargreaves story for old time's sake, it's a very short story in The Sun saying he'll take a "pay-as-you-play" deal.

There's an interview with Javier Hernandez doing the rounds today, it's from L'Equipe originally, so rather than giving you The Daily Star's version, here's the original French version, which I used either my extensive knowledge of French, or Google Translate, to read. He say's how unexpected his first season was, how he wants to improve next season and help Man Utd "make history":

As a group, I am very happy to have won the championship of England. This is a wonderful thing, especially after a title race as fierce. Chelsea, Arsenal or even Manchester City have battled to the end, but we never doubted our strength. Our team has such soul and such generosity. Success is written into the DNA of this club, I'm in the best club in the world. Everything is done to succeed and win titles. I keep only defeat in the final of the Champions League in the craw ... Personally, I am extremely happy with my season, but I do not rest on my laurels. I want to do even better next season. I want to help this club to make history.

And that's today's news. 

Media Control

Wise words from Berba's agent today on Berba:

"he is not paying attention to the British media."

That from a story in The Mirror that the club haven't spoken to him about a new contract.  Which seems to be one of those stories that serves no purpose, other than to keep the papers' anti-Berba agenda to the fore.
Elsewhere, we're in the tricky territory of when do I stop mention Modric in these paper round-ups?  Is it still relevant to Man Utd?  I'll do today's Modric news, which is Daniel Levy saying the Spurs ain't for selling:

"I wish to make it absolutely clear, as I have said previously, that none of our key players will be sold this summer," Levy said. "We are building a team for the future to consistently play at the highest level and retaining quality players is crucial to that.
"In respect of Luka Modric, we are not prepared to sell, at any price, to Chelsea or any other club. We made our stance on this issue abundantly clear in writing to Chelsea. They chose to ignore it and then subsequently made the offer public."

The Guardian also point out that Modric still has 5 years left on his contract, and he's promised not to force a transfer, so that would seem to be the end of that - unless Chelsea put in some sort of super-bid. 

The Telegraph have a profile of our alleged transfer target Alexis Sanchez:

Sanchez is one of those players that greatness comes easily to. Little wonder Acosta, Cortes, Spicto, those who watched him come from the dust, believe fervently that he will be the best in the world. In Calama, they know that what the ground bestows is precious. They know when the glittering is gold.

 Another day another club "interested" in Wes Brown, today The Mail tip Everton to get him.
In the oddest linking of the day, The Mirror say Sevilla and Atletico Madrid are interested in Park Ji-Sung.  I'm not sure why or where the story came from, because the Mirror article says to read more about it in The People, but I couldn't find it on the website.  So who knows who invented that piece of bullshit.
Some quotes from Paul Scholes on England in the Manchester Evening News.  Brilliantly self-effacing as always - on why he stopped playing for England:

“I’d say it was my fault for not playing as well as I should have done,” Scholes told M.E.N. Sport.
“Maybe for half the games I might have been all right. My career started quite well with England. In the first 20, 25 games I scored quite a few goals. I think I scored the majority of the 14 goals I ended up with early on."

The same paper also have a bit of a discussion on our fixture list, concluding that if we can start off better than we usually do, the fixtures aren't too bad, home games after Champions League ties, "easy" run in - 

“For the first time in a while I have to say the fixture list is weighted in United’s favour.”

Golden Atoms

Hernandez does it again.  Scoring the winner as Mexico come from goal behind to beat Guatemala 2-1 and reach the semis of the Gold Cup.
Here's the goal, a nice little back heel -

Last Train To London

Not much around today, even taking into account the transfer rumouring.

Main story is some quotes from Modric which strongly suggest he might be on his way to Chelsea if the price is right.  Both The Telegraph and The Mail have what they describe as exclusive interviews, but it must have been a conference call because the quotes they have are very similar. The important ones, from The Telegraph:

“I would like to go to Chelsea. A lot of players would like to go there and play for Chelsea because it is one of the best clubs in the world, and so do I, I would like to play there. But we will see what will happen.

“Chelsea are a great club, they play in the Champions League every year, they have great players, they are ambitious and have an ambitious owner who wants to invest in the club and make it win the Champions League, the Premier League and other titles. They are going in a great direction and everything about the club is very good.” ...“I have settled very well in London and my family also,” he said. “We are happy there. It is also near to Croatia, two hours on the plane so everything about London is great they [Chelsea] are the only one who sent an offer and they are at the moment my first-choice.”

Which sounds very much like won't be coming to Manchester any time soon.  The most notable feature of The Daily Mail's report is the way they trumpet "being first all week" with the Modric news, then show a headline they had earlier in the week about him going to Man City...

Talking of City, The Daily Star report that they are going to beat us to the signing of Daniele De Rossi from Roma, which rumour of our interest I must have missed.

From the You Heard It Here First Department - Both The Daily Star and The Mail have the story about Varane going to Real that I mentioned yesterday.

Ritchie De Laet's loan to Norwich is confirmed:

Norwich have confirmed the signing of the defender Ritchie De Laet on a season-long loan from Manchester United, "subject to the relevant paperwork being completed".

The Sun describe our opening few fixtures as "a nightmare" which isn't too far from the truth, only thing that went for us is the tough ones are at home.

And finally. Wayne Rooney is rich:

WAYNE ROONEY is the only Premier League player to crack the top 20 in world sport's Rich List.

Manchester United ace Rooney slips in at No 18 in the annual rankings.

White Socks/Flip Flops

This isn't a post about how Bebe actually played football, I didn't see enough of him to make too much comment on that, and the glimpses I did see, he didn't cover himself in glory, it's more a theoretical post, a post on how he really couldn't win with us, how the loan deal could be precisely what he needs.

In a way I think there's a comparison with Diego Forlan who never really escaped the initial slow start he had with us, even when he started scoring important goals for us, there was a sense that somehow, something wasn't right, he was more of a loveable, if slightly hapless character, rather than the striker with killer instinct he turned into when he left.

My point is based on the Lacanian notion of "the extimicy of the self" - the idea that we are created by our position in the symbolic network, our notion of self is created by the other.  In the case of Forlan for instance, he became the striker who couldn't score.  This was his position, his place in the symbolic network.  Perhaps the better example is Berbatov, who despite being the league's top scorer, is still Berba the lazy, Berba the outcast.  Still sits uneasily in the team, as far as the fans are concerned.  We put it down to a crisis of confidence on Berba's side, but isn't he simply reflecting the lack of confidence "we" feel in him?

Back to Bebe and isn't there a sense that he was "A Flop" before he even put pen to paper on becoming a Man Utd player?  All the talk of the homelessness, the fact that Sir Alex had never seen him play, everything conspired to make him more of a joke than a prospect.  His position was that of a failure before he even began.

Of course, the Lacanian point is that it is only through overcoming, throwing off one's symbolic postition that one becomes a "subject."  It is up to to us to throw off the shackles of the symbolic network.  Or, in the case of football, it is possible to change one's symbolic network by changing clubs, like Forlan, perhaps Bebe can follow suit, though, from all we've said above, his way back to being a Man United player seems permanently blocked.

One last point and while one usually sees this change of symbolic network act positively on the player, one humorous example, what we could term Forlan-in-reverse, seems to be Torres moving to Chelsea and forgetting he's a footballer.

Make Up is: Lies

The question is when did rumour-mongering become news?  When did it become customary to have unsourced stories linking clubs with players?  No evidence offered and no responsibility when nothing happens. Like The Mirror and the ridiculous "Ronaldo to Man City for all the tea in China" story which they reported as fact and next day reported Ronaldo laughing the thing off.  no, "We were wrong," it's like its acceptable to print lies.  In the good old days I assume sports pages were full of cricket during the summer.  Now they're full of lies during the summer, all in the name of entertainment.  Though to be fair, there would be no paper round up without them... So with that in mind -

Modric the main story and the rumour that we're going to enter the race for his signature.  The Guardian report:

Luka Modric would be open to joining Manchester United if Sir Alex Ferguson starts a bidding war with Chelsea by following the west London club in making an official offer for the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder.

After Chelsea had an initial £22m offer rejected, United are considering their options before deciding when to enter the market for a player openly admired by Ferguson, who claims he is the best footballer in England. Manchester City, the Premier League's richest club, also retain an interest and if their billionaire owner, Sheikh Mansour, enters the auction to land Modric then Spurs can expect his price to rise beyond £35m.

While The Daily Star put 2 and 2 together and come up with 73:

DIMITAR BERBATOV may be used as bait by Sir Alex Ferguson in a bid to lure Luka Modric to Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson is a huge admirer of Luka Modric and has made the Tottenham star one of his main summer transfer targets. 

Which, as I was saying above, isn't news, it's someone thinking aloud, "Berba seems surplus, they want Modric, let's guess at this story." Is that any way to run a newspaper.  Or even The Daily Star...The Independent have a pretty sensible view of the thing:

The club are confident that the player and his agent Mario Mamic have no interest in moving this summer. However, they do realise that Modric's £40,000-a-week wages – modest by Premier League standards for a player of his class – are due re-appraisal.

There is no financial imperative to sell Modric this summer on Spurs' part and the length of his contract gives them protection against a situation where they could lose him for nothing.

Which implies only a very big bid would prise him away.  There's also the question of how much Modric wants Champions League football.

The Sun have Redknapp's quotes, which say much the same thing:

"Tottenham are not selling Modric, end of story. I've spoken at length to the chairman Daniel Levy and he said Luka is not for sale. So that's good enough for me.

"Every club in the world would want a player with his ability - but he is ours and that is the way it is staying."

The Daily Mail have the strangest take on it. They have Manchester City launching a purely spoiling bid for him: 

Sources close to Modric believe City, with their vast wealth, will do everything in their power to prevent him joining one of their Barclays Premier League rivals. 

Is that as stupid as these stories come?  Not only do they have a club spending all that money just to stop someone else getting him, but the source is "close to Modric," who know what Modric thinks presumably (they won't), but why they'd know City's plans is a mystery.

Sanchez is now linked to Chelsea as well - it's in The Mirror so almost certainly a lie. 

There's reports today that our long-standing target, Raphael Varane is now also in doubt as Varane is worried there won't be many first team opportunities for him with us. A report in a French paper also claimed he'd been seen at Real Madrid (couldn't find the link for that one).

The Mail speculate that Bolton, who the Mail made up a story linking them to Wes Brown, no longer, if they ever did, want to sign Wes Brown. Meta.

A story in all the papers, here in The Independent, Sir Alex backs Alex McLeish for the Villa job:

"At the end of the day what will count is this: can he do the job for Villa? It doesn't matter whether there are five against him, 50 against him or 500 against him, because the experience and the ability he has got, believe me, he will prove he can do the job. And that's what it's all about.

"Once the fans are confronted by the reality that he's the manager, they will step back and say, 'Well, we've made our complaints and voiced our opinion, let's see what happens next and give the man his chance'. There are some good players at Villa and overall it's a really good set-up. It takes time to get a manager to get what you want out of your team and the Villa fans need to give Alex the time to do that, too."

Something that has actually happened, Bebe has gone to Besiktas on loan.

Humorous quote from Michael Owen in The Mirror on his winning a race, he states the obvious to a stupid question:

Asked if it was better than scoring a hat-trick for England, Owen said: "I've scored a couple of them. It's a bit different owning a horse that wins at Royal Ascot."

Quite.

Finally, here's a link to the fixtures for next season that were out this morning, sesaon starts at West Brom.

Balls and My Word

It seems to be more about who we're not getting than who we are getting, though there is, especially with Sanchez, the feeling that footballer writers just have a champions league style draw every evening to see which club is linked to which player.

Today Barcelona are the favourites to sign Sanchez, according to The Guardian who quote the Barcelona president:

"We are optimistic but this has just begun. We are negotiating for Sanchez," he told the Chilean newspaper La Tercera.

"We know he is a valuable player; that is why there are so many teams after him. We have to continue talking and we will see what is going to happen in the next few days."

This Independent article sums up the other 2 big stories - Nasri probably staying at Arsenal and Chelsea bid for Modric:

Talks between Arsenal's Samir Nasri and Manchester United have come to nothing and the player now appears likely to remain at Arsenal for another season.The Independent understands that Nasri will now head into the final year of his current £55,000-a-week contract and reconsider his options as a free agent at the end of next season. ...

Chelsea have made the first formal summer move for Tottenham's Luka Modric, lodging a £22m bid which Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy rejected out of hand yesterday afternoon. Roman Abramovich's initial offer, which had been expected, could rise to more than £30m.

The Guardian also reckon £30 million could prise him away:

Modric as an established Premier League and international performer is arguably worth considerably more than the £22m offered by Chelsea and so the west London club can be expected to increase their offer markedly.

Any bid of £30m or more would force Levy into giving serious consideration to allowing the sale, with West Ham United's Scott Parker, of whom Redknapp is a keen admirer, the potential replacement.

 The Telegraph show the confusing nature of all the names and clubs:

Manchester United have also registered their interest in Modric but have turned their attentions to Alexis Sanchez — who is also on Chelsea’s target list — and Arsenal’s Samir Nasri.

 They raise the figure to £35 million being the figure for Spurs to sell Modric.

The Sun go proper cheap, with Chelsea only have to go to £25 million to get him, which low figure doesn't fit very well with this:

Blues owner Abramovich wants to blow Manchester United, who are also chasing the 25-year-old, out of the water in the battle for Spurs' prize asset.

Ridiculous story of the day, the Daily Star have us wanting to pip Liverpool to the signing of Charlie Adam, and all the names and clubs get back on the merry-go-round:

But Fergie is convinced he can outmuscle Liverpool because he can offer the 25-year-old higher wages. 

Fergie has already beaten Dalglish to the signing of Blackburn’s Phil  Jones. He will turn to Adam because he fears losing out to Chelsea in his bid to sign Inter Milan star Wesley Sneijder.

Because Adam is a worthwhile substitute for Sneijder...

The Sun win headline of the day for "David: Van always hit top Gea" above a story for these quotes:

"The fact they are thinking of me as a replacement for such a great goalkeeper as Van der Sar is great.

"Let's hope I can play like Van der Sar at his age. To do it I'd need strength, luck and to take good care of my body because football consumes you. But let's hope so."

Finally, The Daily Mail say that Ritchie De Laet is on his way to Norwich on loan.