De Gea’s days are numbered
The papers seem agreed that David de Gea is in his last season at Old Trafford but where his future lies is dividing opinion. The Daily Mail claims that the 28-year-old Spanish shotstopper is “set to become the highest-paid goalkeeper in the world by joining Paris Saint-Germain in the summer”. Manchester United have apparently failed in their attempts to persuade De Gea to pen a new deal and instead he will accept PSG’s offer of £300,000-a-week.
That works out at around £15.5m a year, which as the Mail notes, would take his “potential salary to over £60m if he were to sign a four-year deal in Paris”.
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However, The Sun has a different take on the situation, claiming that De Gea will be sold for £75m at the end of the season - not to PSG but to Juventus. The paper says that the Italian giants are “the clear favourites” in the race to secure his signature, mainly because PSG won’t be able to meet the asking price because of “Financial Fair Play issues”. That’s a reference to their huge outlay last year for Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, but the Mail argues that the French champions will circumvent their FFP issues “by selling Neymar to Real Madrid and building their team exclusively around Mbappe”.
As for who United will look to bring in as De Gea’s replacment, the Sun says that Everton and England gloveman Jordan Pickford is of particular interest.
Mega-deal for Pogba
Juventus may be about to miss out on more than just David De Gea, claims the Daily Mirror, which reports that Inter Milan “want to hijack” their rivals’ move for Paul Pogba. They’ll do with what the Mirror describes as a “£200m mega-deal” and that entails giving United “£75m-rated defender Milan Skriniar and £48m winger Ivan Perisic” plus around £75m in cold hard cash. The pair have been linked with the Red Devils in recent weeks, and apparently new Inter director Beppe Marotta - who is due to take up his position this week - wants to make a statement of immediate intent by pinching Pogba from under the noses of Juventus.
Mourinho wants Marko
West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic could be on his way to Old Trafford in January, reports Metro, with Jose Mourinho “keen on the Austria international”. As Saturday’s goalless draw with Crystal Palace demonstrated, United are seriously lacking firepower up front, and Mourinho believes the 29-year-old Arnautovic “can provide an answer to his attacking headache”. Arnautovic, who arrived at West Ham in a £24m deal from Stoke City last year, has scored 16 goals in 42 Premier League appearances for the Hammers, and Mourinho believes he can be a foil to Romelu Lukaku, and help revive the Belgian’s fortunes, with his barren spell in front of goal now standing at 11 matches.
The Sun says that Mourinho is prepared to pay £50m to secure the services of Arnautovic and says that it means Alexis Sanchez’s future at the club is now in “serious doubt” with the Chilean flop more likely than ever to be offloaded in January.
United like Rice
Scouts from Old Trafford were at West Ham on Saturday to watch young defender Declan Rice in action against Man City, reports Metro. The 19-year-old has attracted interest from United and Chelsea after breaking into the Hammers’ team. His current contract expires in 2020 and West Ham could be tempted to sell at the end of the season to avoid losing him on a free transfer.
