This morning having woke up and read the papers/websites, its become quite apparent that our summer signings are slowly becoming more evident (if David Gill was in fact telling the truth and there is money there to be spent).
The first one is one has been dragging on since it first broke, Joe Cole joining the club on a Bosman having failed to agree a contract extension at Stamford Bridge.
Whereas before there were talks of a break down in contract negotiations, it has been reported in today’s media that Cole has said that there is now current no offer on the table at all,
“I’ve never spoken publicly about contracts before, I don’t think contracts should really be discussed mid-season. I have always signed mine in the summer in the past. But this time it’s different. We can’t seem to find common ground and it’s distracting. At the moment there is no offer on the table, so I know where I stand. I still hope to talk in the summer.”
The whole saga is quite confusing to me as Cole is obviously a player of some talent and if Chelsea are willing to let a player of his standard go then we or any other team should jump at the chance to snap him up. Yes he has had serious injury but when fit and at his best everyone including United, know what he can do and at 28 he is definitely worth a risk if available.
The next issue that caught my eye was the plight of Lyon in France. L’Equipe have reported that Lyon will need to raise £25m in the chance that they miss out on the Champions League.
United have been in the market for a new goalkeeper and although Edwin Van Der Sar has recently signed an extension to his deal, if Hugo Lloris is available (he along with Bastos and Toulalan were the players mentioned as potential money raisers) I would expect the club to take advantage.
Lyon currently sit 6th having lost there last game to Marseille 2-1, that being said they are just 4 points of a Champions League place and 5 off top spot so that situation could change before the season ends.
And the last pieces come from Spain after Valencia have realised they are fighting a losing battle to keep hold of their star players. It is being claimed that Los Che are actually encouraging United to make a bid for David Silva and if you saw his performance over the weekend (He set up and scored a goal as they beat Almeria) and this is true I’d expect the club to jump at the chance! At just 24 he could be the replacement for Paul Scholes that seems impossible to find although he should not come cheap.
The second player that could be departing the Mestalla for Old Trafford is David Villa. Top of most clubs wanted lists this summer, the Sunday tabloids reported that we were lining up a £35m bid for the hit man before the World Cup and today to add to those rumours it is being reported that Valencia are finally ready to do business.
Valencia are in a touch of trouble financially and are hoping to raise money from the sales of both players but with Villa both Chelsea and Man City are also being mentioned as potential destinations.
It would be naive to think that we will see all of these players at the club but having been linked heavily with all, it would be nice to see at least one of them come to Old Trafford when the window opens in the summer.
Villa will likely be the best striker at the World Cup this summer, but at 28 I don’t know how many more seasons he has left as a top striker. Silva, on the other hand, at 24 would likely be a Red for 4-5 season before heading back to Spain for retirement.