Still Following the Trawler

The di Maria deal agreed with PSG yesterday is for a €63m fee (£44.2m) — Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) July 30, 2015 Di Maria to PSG close to being done now. Not sure yet when PSG will announce. Fee around £44.1m #mufc — James Ducker (@DuckerTheTimes) July 30, 2015 Man United finally set to give up on Di Maria as PSG close on £40m deal | @Ian_Ladyman_DM http://t.co/dRzk8OgF8h — MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) July 31, 2015 Ducker in the Times : United to sell Di Maria and take £15m loss. pic.twitter.com/jX81YeWBlZ — James (@writtenoff_mufc) July 31, 2015 Mark Ogden reporting Angel di Maria is set to join PSG this weekend + Pedro is identified as his replacement http://t.co/xWT5yzy7Qh — MUFC Peoples Person (@PeoplesPerson_) July 30, 2015

As last season disintegrated into an anti-climax there was one story in United's season that stood out as the most tragic and confusing of all - that of Angel Di Maria and his inability to transform a tired looking United side as so many people had hoped. Two months prior to joining United in August 2014 he was starring in Real Madrid's Champions League triumph, right before helping lead Argentina to their first World Cup final since 1990. He was the man everyone wanted in their team: a bona fide superstar and a world beater. And he was a United player. At a British record fee of £59.7 million Real Madrid certainly got the money they felt his talent warranted. Yet United fans were more excited for the season ahead, wondering expectantly as to what he would be able to add to the team that finished a pathetic 7th in the league the previous season rather than worry too much about his phenomenal price tag. And when you heard the mighty  Ronaldo speak out in anger at Real's deci...

Got a message for you @d_degeaofficial ... Please don't go!!! ❤️ #mufc A video posted by Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) on Jul 22, 2015 at 1:12am PDT

Well, another  two weeks  has gone by since my last, and now (accidentally) fortnightly, blog post summarising United's inactivity in this summers transfer market, and STILL absolutely nothing has happ...oh, hang on a second! In complete contrast to the ineffective Executive Vice-Chairman that was being portrayed by the press over the past month, Clive Woodward has indeed been a busy little bee recently, signing no less than THREE decent and much-needed players  for a combined fee of £51million (...£2million more than Citeh paid for this chump ) while also successfully alleviating some of the dead-weight that was burdening our wage bill by releasing the likes of Falcao, Nani and, unfortunately, Robin van Persie. Still, his and van Gaal's work in bringing in new players to United is far from done. With the aforementioned Falcao and van Persie now gone we are down to Rooney and the youngster James Wilson to lead us in attack. Of course, we saw Wazza play well as ...

  All images via www.twitter.com/ManUtd

Finally! A rumour with some serious substance. During the official unveiling of Memphis Depay earlier today LVG has confirmed United's interest in 25 year old right back Matteo Darmian from Torino. The transfer is expected to be completed in the next few days , just in time for the start of United's pre-season tour in the USA which begins on 17th July . Louis van Gaal confirms #mufc are pursuing the signing of Matteo Darmian from Torino. — Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 10, 2015

It was exactly two weeks ago when I proudly highlighted no less than seven world-class talents who were being linked with a place in United's team next season. How wrong I (well, really the national press) was on all seven! Now, 14 days later, it seems as though all seven have been either forgotten about or have signed for Liverpool, so Louis van Gaal has instead chosen to set his sites firmly on three players only. The rumours are, as usual, fluctuating on a daily basis, although if we can pull off at least two we'll certainly look a serious threat next season. Sergio Ramos Getty Images Sergio Ramos transfer: How Real Madrid defender could cost Manchester United £70MILLION  | The Mirror |  2nd July 2015 Sergio Ramos will only leave Real Madrid for Man Utd - Calderon  | BBC Sport | 1st July 2015 Club:  Real Madrid Position:  Defender Value:  £30 million How much do we need him? 10/10 Likelihood of him coming to United?  7/10 Morgan Schneiderlin Getty ...

Via  BBC Sport : The rumours have been going from hot to cold almost on a daily basis, but yesterday, former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has confirmed that Sergio Ramos has told the men in charge at Real to listen to offers coming in from United. United have already bid £28.6m for Ramos and Calderon thinks the 29-year-old defender is ready to move. "I know Sergio has told the general manager to listen to offers they get from Manchester United," said Calderon, who served as president of the Spanish club from 2006 to 2009. He only wants to go to United."

This time last week the rumours linking United to world football's elite were endless and, depending on who's story you read/believed in, many of these players were on the verge of putting pen-to-paper. Lloris was already lined up as a replacement for De Gea, while Gundogen and Firmino  had basically signed. So, where are we now with these stories? Well... 24th June 2015 | The Independent 23rd June 2015 |  Daily Star And most disappointing of all... 23rd June 2015 |  BBC Sport By the 27th June 2014 we had already signed Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao and Luke Shaw from Southampton - so far Depay is ours...but given the inaccuracy of the stories that have surfaced from the media regarding the players we are 'interested' in, I have absolutely no idea who is next?

via www.facebook.com/bewarmers

The news on the rumour-mill today suggests that a transfer for Hoffenheim's Brazilian midfielder, Firmino, to Liverpool in " imminent ". This is the same man who less than a week ago was featured in my blog as one of seven players potentially heading to Old Trafford this summer , with the national press convinced that he was on the verge of becoming a United player. Getty Images So either the world's top football journalists have no idea what is going on here...or United are genuinely set to miss out on this immensely talented player to our bitter rivals? Bad news if the latter turns out to be true.

Hugo Lloris Getty Images Manchester United tipped to sign Hugo Lloris but miss out on Harry Kane  | International Business Times | 18th June 2015 Hugo Lloris to Manchester United: Tottenham management to remain firm over goalkeeper transfer situation  | The Independent | 17th June 2015 Club:  Tottenham Hotspur Position:  Goalkeeper Value:  £20 million How much do we need him?  That all depends on what happens with our current no.1. 10/10 if De Gea goes to Madrid, but zero if he stays on for another season. Likelihood of him coming to United?  See above. Mats Hummels Getty Images Mats Hummels remains Man United's top defensive target, sources say  |  ESPN FC | 16th June 2015 Is Mesut Ozil trying to convince Mats Hummels to SIGN for Man United?  | The Daily Star | 15th June 2015 Club:  Borussia Dortmund Position:  Centre Back Value:  £25 million How much do we need him?  10/10 Likelihood of him coming to Unite...

So it's begun - the summer-long transfer rumour-mill is well under-way. And as per usual, United's name is associated with anyone and everyone out there - from "hot prospect" to "urgent replacement" to " unknown Portuguese player who the manager had never seen play before signing him ". Of course we're all used to it by now, and almost immune to the majority of the drivel that comes out of the tabloids. That said, who doesn't love a bit of gossip!? So here's my attempt at slotting in some of the possible transfer targets into United's line-up for the upcoming season. As I mentioned, the body of the deceased 2014/15 season is still warm and yet United are apparently out to sign a million new players this summer. Of course, we won't; but a good few players are definitely needed if we are to improve on last season's anti-climatic display. First up is the issue of replacing David de Gea - United's player of the year and the ...

Via  Daily Star : Getty Images Dayot Upamecano, the 17-year-old centre back from Valenciennes who is also a target for Arsenal and Man City, has supposedly arrived in Manchester to seal a move to United... The young centre-back has reportedly attracted the attention of rivals Manchester City and Arsenal. But Louis van Gaal's side seem to have won the race for his signature. It's claimed that a fee of around £450,000 has been agreed with the French Ligue 2 side. And the 17-year-old Valenciennes starlet has visited the club's training ground ahead of his impending move, the Metro report. Read the full article  here .

Via  Mail Online : According to the Mail Online, Real Madrid's interest in United's Player of the Year is hotting up, with the goalkeeper thought to already be informing his team-mates that the move is imminent... Real Madrid are now convinced that David de Gea will join them from Manchester United this summer. The Spanish giants have held two meetings over summer transfer policy this week and sources close to the club have confirmed that president Florentino Perez is sure that De Gea will leave Old Trafford for a price-tag in excess of £25million. United are still fighting to keep their goalkeeper and will not comment on the state of play. The Barclays Premier League club have offered De Gea a British record deal for a goalkeeper of £200,000-a-week to try to tempt him to stay and have still not heard officially from Madrid ahead of a transfer window that opens at the end of the month. However Madrid believe De Gea will be their man once negotiations formally open and it is al...