What Manchester United fans and well, pretty much every other fanbase in the Football Transfer Tavern has grown used to in recent times is the fact that Chelsea reign supreme.
Having picked up their fourth Premier League title this term, the Blues are a machine that look pretty unstoppable at the minute and this is getting our resident Red Devils fanatics down because not so long ago, it was them under Sir Alex Ferguson that looked pretty much unbeatable as well.
Nevertheless, the signs are that Louis van Gaal now has United back on the road to recovery after the ill-fated reign of David Moyes and given the fact they managed to sign the likes of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao last summer despite their below-par seasons shows the Red Devils are still a force to be reckoned with in the transfer market.
With hundreds of names flying about the bar on a daily basis, the transfer news is coming to the boil nicely so far this summer with Sami Khedira having chosen Juventus as his next club yesterday afternoon.
With the futures of Memphis Depay, James Milner and Danny Ings also already tied up, the punters are thirsty for more done deals.
Given the sheer status of Chelsea and United as two of the world’s biggest clubs, it comes as no surprise that in some cases, the two English superpowers are seemingly trailing after the same names this summer transfer window.
Here we have identified five transfer targets who both the Blues and Red Devils will be fighting over this summer.
[ffc-gallery]
Click on the image below to reveal the 5 players Manchester United and Chelsea will fight over this summer.
[/ffc-gallery]
Koke
On Saturday evening in Berlin, we witnessed one of the greatest ever names in European football bow out in the best possible style, scooping yet another Champions League trophy with Barcelona.
Xavi will now of course be joining Al Sadd in Qatar but many a time, the heir to his throne for the Spanish national team has been a tag awarded to Atletico Madrid’s Koke.
Despite this transfer being a long shot for both United and Chelsea, the likes of the Daily Star continue to link him with the two clubs despite always mentioning that the Spanish international is settled at the Vicente Calderon.
At present, Koke’s release clause is set at £43 million and you can’t really see the Blues shelling out that much for a player who would ultimately be a finishing touch to an otherwise imperious playing squad.
For United on the other hand, we have seen that they aren’t shy of splashing the millions in recent times and if moves for Ilkay Gundogan and Morgan Schneiderlin fail to come to pass, perhaps the Koke transfer speculation will intensify as the summer drags on.
Our United fans are currently purring over the thought of Koke and Ander Herrera pulling the strings in a Red Devils midfield together.
Toby Alderweireld
He has been linked far more with Chelsea than Manchester United but surely Toby Alderweireld would represent an astute signing for either Premier League club.
Set to return to parent club Atletico Madrid following an impressive loan spell at Southampton, Alderweireld’s future is very much up in the air right now with the Belgian unfancied by Diego Simeone in Madrid.
Alderweireld – capable of playing at full back, centre back or in defensive midfield – has come out and claimed he will be making a decision over his future very soon with Manchester City and Tottenham also interested in the Belgian international.
One thing’s for sure; Jose Mourinho often tends to swoop for players who can play multiple positions much like Kurt Zouma and you could see Alderweireld similarly buying into his tactics.
Manchester United still need another central defender with Jonny Evans interesting Aston Villa and aside from number one target Nicolas Otamendi, sources such as the Daily Star are starting to link Louis van Gaal’s side to Alderweireld’s services.
Gonzalo Higuain
The news that caused the biggest roar of excitement in the Football Transfer Tavern yesterday were the reports from Metro that claimed it is Manchester United and not Arsenal or Chelsea who are closing in on completing a deal for Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain.
With the publication going as far to claim that the Red Devils have agreed terms for the Argentine forward, Higuain seems set to move away from Serie A after a few impressive seasons spent under the now departed Rafael Benitez.
With Falcao having returned to Monaco and Javier Hernandez’s Old Trafford future seemingly over, United should be in the market for another forward to supplement Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie and our punters agree that they can see van Gaal shelling out big money for another striker despite Memphis Depay’s arrival.
If Higuain do indeed snare Higuain, this would be somewhat surprising with the Argentine having always been more intensely linked with moves to London in the form of Arsenal and Chelsea.
The player worked under Jose Mourinho during their time spent together at Real Madrid and with Didier Drogba departing Stamford Bridge, the Blues will need to add another forward to supplement Loic Remy and Diego Costa.
The latest in conflicting reports from the IB Times is that Chelsea are planning a £30 million raid to convince Napoli to part with their prized asset.
Raphael Varane
More of a long shot signing than Koke according to our Chelsea and Manchester United regulars but a name that continues to be linked with the pair is Real Madrid’s outstanding young centre back Raphael Varane.
The latest from the Daily Star who reference those ever reliable *sarcasm* Spanish reports is that Varane is now looking for a way out of the Bernabeu after growing disillusioned with his rotation with Pepe, not to mention the fact that Los Blancos are trailing Juventus’ Leonardo Bonucci.
It is at this moment that the punters claim Madrid must be crazy if they have designs on replacing the up-and-coming Varane with the ageing Bonucci so they are taking this news with a pinch of salt.
What’s for certain however is that Varane is quite rightly billed as the best young centre back in world football and would make for an excellent replacement with John Terry now reaching the final years of his professional career.
Varane is also in that Mats Hummels standard bracket of candidates to usurp Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo as a first choice defensive option at Old Trafford but sadly, nobody can see him exiting Real Madrid this summer as yet.
Felipe Anderson
Lazio’s Felipe Anderson can count himself very unlucky to have missed out on a place in Dunga’s Brazil squad for the upcoming Copa America tournament in Chile this summer after a fantastic season at club level.
Earning his first senior international cap for the Selecao this year, the name Felipe Anderson has been a name we have been growing more and more used to in the tavern in recent times.
An attacking midfielder by trade, Anderson can be deployed either out wide or more centrally and is incredibly technically gifted.
Also undoubtedly one of the fastest players in all of Europe, let alone Serie A, this kind of player has been seen in abundance at Old Trafford down the years – you just have to look at the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs who were known for their pace.
The latest from The Express is that United are planning a £30 million raid on Lazio in an attempt to beat off competition from the Blues for Anderson’s signature.
If Chelsea get rid of the likes of expensive misfits Juan Cuadrado and Mohamed Salah, you could see Mourinho being tempted to try and get it right in another raid for attacking reinforcements.
For United on the other hand, if Anderson was to be signed, surely it would signal an end for Adnan Januzaj’s Old Trafford career with Depay, Young, Valencia and Di Maria all capable of playing on the flanks in an overcrowded position for Louis van Gaal to assess.
United fans will just hope that if Felipe Anderson is signed, he will have more of an impact than fellow Brazilian Anderson who departed Old Trafford before heading back to Brazil with his tail between his legs in January.
