Some Manchester United fans drinking in the Football Transfer Tavern are asking themselves just why do they do it?
They’re referring to their daily ritual of swotting up on the latest transfer rumours concerning the Red Devils which is usually met by tuts of scepticism and disbelief.
Our landlord reminds them however that they do it because at the end of the day, you just can’t beat a good old rumour and believable or not, it always seems to bring some kind of reaction out of football supporters.
And lets face it, with the FA Cup Final and Champions League Final now having both passed, our resident drinkers are starting to grow restless with the lack of football action so the rumours are receiving the full attention of the punters on a daily basis.
Having glanced over what punters believe to be the most ridiculous rumours concerning Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in recent days, now the focus switches towards Manchester United and the crazy transfer moves that have been mooted for the Red Devils this summer.
Our punters have listed five Red Devils rumours that they definitely believe fill the ‘ridiculous’ category. Do you agree?
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Click on Fred the Red below to reveal the 5 most ridiculous Manchester United transfer rumours heard so far this summer.
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Quadruple raid on Real Madrid
In the past week, the Daily Star led with the quite unbelievable headline that Manchester United had made contact with Real Madrid over an eye-watering quadruple raid on the Spanish giants.
Upon closer inspection, the article referenced those ever dramatic Spanish reports that claimed the Red Devils were flat out rejected having made contact over the availability of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane this summer.
Despite the article not going as far to claim that Louis van Gaal was looking to land all of those players in one ridiculous deal, it’s still ridiculous to think most of these players will be on the move this summer anyway.
In recent times, we have seen Real part with the likes of Mesut Ozil and Angel Di Maria despite enjoying prosperous spells at the Bernabeu but in the case of Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema and Varane, this foursome seems to have embedded themselves as relative untouchables for Madrid.
It seems silly to talk about Ronaldo in those terms; after all, he is untouchable wherever he goes but nevertheless, this was a ridiculous rumour with unfounded accusations.
Harry Kane
While nobody could have foreseen Tottenham’s Harry Kane enjoying the season he has just had, plundering 21 Premier League goals in the process, what nobody else can see is the Spurs forward making a £50 million transfer to Manchester United any time soon.
This was the story Metro led with recently, claiming the Red Devils were putting together an incredible package to tempt the North Londoners into selling their prized asset.
In the case of Harry Kane, he seems like an extremely down to earth guy who has struck up a real bond with the Tottenham supporters having emerged from their academy ranks as one of their own as the Spurs chant goes.
Could you really see him giving up on that status as Spurs’ main man any time soon? No, us neither.
Manchester United will be needing to bring in another striker you feel given Radamel Falcao has since departed back to Monaco while Javier Hernandez’s Old Trafford career is seemingly over.
Yes, Memphis Depay is already in the bag but as for somebody to supplement Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, Louis van Gaal and United will have to look elsewhere.
Raheem Sterling
While Manchester United fans have absolutely loved the last couple of years taunting Arsenal fans for the form and subsequent Premier League title triumph in which Robin van Persie has enjoyed since making his highly controversial switch to Old Trafford, can you really see Raheem Sterling doing the same?
In what would be an even more controversial transfer, this hasn’t stopped the likes of The Guardian claiming the Liverpool contract rebel is open to a summer switch to the Red Devils.
Liverpool have proved in the recent past in the case of Luis Suarez that they are far more willing than the likes of Arsenal to really put their foot down and play hardball regarding contractual stand-offs but in the case of Sterling, you really see no way back for him at present.
At the same time, you can’t really see United pulling off what would be the talking point of the summer either.
After all, United have just brought Memphis Depay into Old Trafford and with Angel Di Maria, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia and Adnan Januzaj capable of playing on the flanks, this is a position in which Louis van Gaal already has an abundance of riches despite Sterling’s talent.
Nemanja Vidic
This rumour surfaced a little while back in the lead up to the January transfer window but we’re revisiting it now simply due to the fact that it fits the ‘ridiculous’ category perfectly.
The Daily Star was among several publications that cashed in on Phil Jones and Jonny Evans’ shaky performances by claiming that United were intent on bringing former defensive hero Nemanja Vidic back to Old Trafford to sort the mess at the back out.
Joining Inter Milan of course last summer, it appears to everybody that the Serbian defender is seeing out the twilight of his career in a slower paced division for one of the biggest sides in Italy despite their fallen status.
So to bring him back to Old Trafford in what would ultimately be a panic move on the part of Louis van Gaal seemed quite frankly far-fetched to all of us in the tavern.
This summer, the likes of Nicolas Otamendi and Mats Hummels are interesting Manchester United and it is a player at the peak of their powers like this duo that is required, not a plan B or C move to bring Vidic back to Manchester.
Jonny Evans
He isn’t the most popular Red Devils player amongst Manchester United fans given his error-prone performances throughout the course of a season and this fact alone was enough to make United fans stare on in disbelief as they saw Jonny Evans linked with Arsenal by Metro in April.
It remains to be seen whether Arsene Wenger will swoop for another centre back this summer after capturing Gabriel Paulista from Villarreal in January but if this is what they decide to do, Gooners everywhere will be hoping their club can do a lot better than Evans!
In what seems a crazy rumour whatever way you look at it, Aston Villa have also been credited with an interest in the Northern Ireland captain and our punters are able to appreciate how much more realistic that deal looks rather than a summer switch to Arsenal!
