Man Utd transfer news: conflicting reports over Toby Alderweireld deal

Toby or not Toby, that is the question Manchester United fans are asking as conflicting rumours emerged about the possibility of Toby Alderweireld becoming a Red Devil.

The Daily Star and The Sun are two of the papers convinced that the tough-tackling Tottenham defender will soon be on his way to Old Trafford. The Star goes so far as to claim that United gaffer Jose Mourinho “is desperate to land the Tottenham ace”, and he wants the deal wrapped up before the World Cup starts on Thursday.

Apparently United “are in talks with Spurs over the Belgium international” and negotiations are progressing slowly if steadily, although a sticking point is Tottenham’s asking price of more than £70m, which is about £20m too high for United.

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But the Manchester Evening News has a different take on the transfer, claiming that Alderweireld “isn’t a top transfer target on Manchester United’s eight-man shortlist”.

While the club’s scouts did at one stage check out the 29-year-old blocker, the MEN said that they decided he isn’t what Mourinho needs to strengthen his back four and consequently they “are looking at other options”. Such as?

Varane and Boateng on Mourinho’s target list

Well, according to the Manchester Evening News, the names on Mourinho’s wishlist are Raphael Varane of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng, Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, Milan Skriniar of Inter, Alessio Romagnoli of AC Milan, Jose Gimenez of Atletico Madrid and Freiburg’s Caglar Soyuncu (although he has been strongly linked to Arsenal recently).

Whoever United do end up signing, the MEN says that there will definitely be one centre-back leaving the club in the coming weeks with Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Victor Lindelof and Marcos Rojo all possible departures.

United in pole position for Pickford

Meanwhile, what about the man behind the back four? According to the Daily Express United “are in pole position to sign Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford”.

That must mean Real Madrid have finally managed to lure David de Gea from Old Trafford after years of laying the groundwork, and the Express believes that United have already identified the England gloveman as the man to take over from the Spaniard between the sticks.