If cherry-picking is the act of choosing the best of a number of things for one’s own benefit, how could we define what David Moyes is about to do to the Manchester United squad? Clearly it is a very different act indeed, the finest players at Old Trafford being profoundly unlikely to accept a move to work with the most-derided manager in their club’s recent history at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, so perhaps rather than plucking something sweet and delicious that grows on trees, it should be compared with the act of removing from the ground something obviously unpleasant. Toadstool-reaping? Perhaps using something actively poisonous is overdoing it. Grass-mowing? No, that’s a little too quotidian a description for these unusual circumstances. Oh, I know …
Moyes is preparing to slug-scoop the Manchester United squad, initially targeting Marouane Fellaini and Adnan Januzaj having discovered that neither is highly regarded by José Mourinho, but not planning to stop there. Sadly however his attempt to sign United’s Will Keane might end frustratingly, with Bristol City busily trying to convince him to go there instead. United, meanwhile, have taken Curacao international Liandro Martis – also interesting Leicester and Oldham – on trial but will have to battle another former Moyes employer, Everton, if they are to bring José Fonte from Southampton - £10m should be enough to secure the 32-year-old’s services, and Everton seem likely to spend that cash on Ashley Williams instead. Talking of United and 32-year-olds, though, Bastian Schweinsteiger has been told to clear out his locker in the first-team changing room and appears set to spend the remainder of his time at the club – up to two years at £120,000 a week – being emphatically if lucratively cold-shouldered.
Wayne Rooney has announced that he wants to stay at the club until he is at least 36. “I want to win more. I’ve still got a good few years left in me,” he trilled, as he looked ahead to his 15th season of first-team football. “Hopefully I can still be here after 20 seasons.” This announcement inspired the Sun to wheel out the obvious-but-nevertheless-always-enjoyable-headline “Gerihat-trick”.
Arsenal target Alexandre Lacazette will be allowed to leave Lyon if a truly indecent offer is received. “He can leave if Lyon want him to,” said his manager, Bruno Génésio. “There are some offers that you cannot refuse. I have been assured that we will keep the player, but you never know what could happen.” Arsène Wenger is also seeking defensive reinforcements, and having pondered moves for the likes of Valencia’s Shkodran Mustafi and Swansea’s Federico Fernández, he is now apparently fully focused on West Brom’s Jonny Evans, even if the price he will have to pay for the Baggies centre-half has been beefed up to £16m – which as it happens is precisely what Tony Pulis is about to pay for West Ham’s Diafra Sakho.
Roma meanwhile are planning a north-London-related double swoop, bringing Federico Fazio from Tottenham on loan with a view to a £3.4m permanent deal and Wojciech Szczesny from Arsenal, also on loan, with his pre-agreed fee being fully £10m more than expensive.
West Ham fancy augmenting their attack with Mario Gómez, the 31-year-old German being determined to leave Besiktas because of Turkey’s current political instability. Swansea have shifted their targets to Leonardo Ulloa and Nacer Chadli after failing to convince Fernando Llorente to move to Wales. Chelsea think Everton are pushing their luck by demanding £75m for Romelu Lukaku, having decided that £67m should be more than enough to bring the Belgian back to the club he departed for 41.8% of that sum just a couple of years back. They have apparently informed Ronald Koeman that they will spend not a penny more, while the player is allegedly drafting an official transfer request in an effort to force through the move.
Newcastle have been on a release-clause-triggering spree, and now hope to complete the signing of Ciaran Clark after meeting the Aston Villa player’s £5m clause, and of Hull’s Mohamed Diamé, whose clause is set £500,000 lower. Meanwhile near-neighbours Middesbrough are closing in on Norwich’s Youssouf Mulumbu, says the Sun. “He’s not yet made up his mind and it is too early to say any one club has the advantage,” says his agent. The Canaries are not prepared to let Martin Olsson leave so easily, however, and have rejected a £3m offer from West Ham, whose left-back shortlist also features Hull’s Andrew Robertson, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson from Manchester United, and Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs.
