Cristiano Ronaldo has always loved Manchester United. We know this because
he left the club to spend his peak years elsewhere, and now that they are
over, is looking to return. The likelihood is that three Champions Leagues
and three Ballon d’Ors later, he has at last come to acknowledge the famous
saying that “when you leave United, the only way is down”, and as such has
instructed Jorge Mendes to negotiate his back passage; strike that, reverse
it; his passage back.
Quite what caused this sudden and remarkable change of heart is unclear, but the
deal is also expected to include Álvaro Morata, with David de Gea moving in
the opposite direction. For this, United will pay a round £183m, though Ed
Woodward is doing all he can to increase the fee; Real Madrid will use the money
to buy Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan, Michael Owen and the boy Mame Biram
Diouf.
Should United succeed in selling the world’s best goalkeeper for roughly £3.62, they plan to bring in Gianluigi Donnarumma to replace him, a development that will have few opponents should it bring the seminal work of Paul Young to English terraces. Donnarumma has, it seems, burnt his bridges at Milan by hankering for a better job that pays him more money; on Sunday, a “Dollarumma” sign was displayed behind his goal during the Italy-Denmark game at the European Under-21 Championships, and play was briefly suspended when a load of fake dollar bills were thrown into his goal. The Mill understands that those responsible were grown
adults.
Elsewhere, Chelsea are looking to add to their plucky squad of incredibly expensive and talented underdogs. Permitted to spend a mere £112.88m last summer, Antonio Conte is ensuring against such appalling parsimony this, refusing to sign a new contract until things are as he would like them. In particular, he would like Alex Sandro from Juventus, deemed an upgrade on Marcus Alonso, and Tiemoué Bakayoko from Monaco, a proven expert in conceding possession in dangerous areas.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are still haggling with Roma over Mohamed Salah, who
moved to Italy less than a year ago for “just” £15, but one half-decent
season later, is apparently worth more than double that. A bid of £28m was
rejected earlier this month, but it is thought that a deal has now been
done for £35m; on Sunday, a friend of the player “took to Facebook” to
wish him luck at Anfield, and there can be no more compelling evidence than
that.
Across Stanley Park, the People’s Club continue to chuck money at
Evertonians who are born not made; last week, £55m or so was spent on
Jordan Pickford and Davy Klaassen, and this week Sandro Ramírez will join
from Málaga. Nor is Ronald Koeman finished there. Though he retains his
disgust at the venality of a system in which Romelu Lukaku can want to
further his career by leaving Goodison, he has charitably suspended it with
regard to those he’d like to arrive, so has asked the club to pursue
Swansea City’s Gylfi Sigurdsson, Burnley’s Michael Keane, and Milan’s
M’Baye Niang.
Finally, Southampton are keen on Tottenham’s reserve centre-back, Kevin
Wimmer. Though doubts persist about his ability to defend, this would at
least make the headline “Wimmer’s Way” more likely, and for that we can
only be grateful.