Man Utd ecstatic as £51m Chelsea, Tottenham attacker target ‘likes’ what Ratcliffe can offer
Manchester United have been given a boost in the pursuit of RB Leipzig winger Dani Olmo, as he reportedly “likes Manchester” and is a “good fit” for the Premier League.
Despite being a Spaniard and playing 33 times for the national team since 2019, Olmo has never played club football in Spain. He started his career with Dinamo Zagreb, before moving to Leipzig, where he still plays now, in 2020.
He was in Barcelona’s academy as a youngster after moving from Espanyol, but was moved on well before the prospect of playing senior football became real.
Olmo has shone in Germany in recent years, though. He scored five Bundesliga goals and provided 10 assists in his best season, 2020/21.
He’s consistently produced in front of goal since – Olmo has seven goals and four assists in all competitions this season.
As a result, he might now have the chance of moving to a brand new country.
Indeed, English clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham have all been linked with the attacker of late.
A move back to Barcelona has also been mooted by journalist Rodrigo Faez, though he has given an update which seems to put United front and centre for Olmo.
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Olmo ‘likes Manchester’
“He likes Manchester, he likes the city and the English lifestyle,” Faez told MUFCMPB.
“It will depend on Barcelona and other linked clubs, but I think he is more fit for the Premier League game style than La Liga.”
In European competition, Olmo has played away against both Manchester clubs, though he has not had a massive impact against either.
It’s also interesting that he’s seen to have a game more suited to England than Spain, though the fact he never made it in Spain as a youngster and has thrived elsewhere means that could be true.
The Bundesliga is a closer style of play to the Premier League than La Liga, so the transition to England could be much easier than to Spain for Olmo if he is to move.
United face Man City danger
United will be ecstatic that they’ve got a leg up due to the attacker wanting to live in Manchester.
However, they are obviously not the only big club that can offer that, and Manchester City are both in a better position than them in the league and have also had an eye on Olmo for a while.
It will cost £52million for any side to snare him, and that is nothing for City.
With reports Kevin De Bruyne could soon move on, Olmo is seen as a very good replacement, and it’s already been suggested the Citizens are ready to pay to release him from Leipzig.
READ MORE: The four problem positions Ratcliffe must fix at Man Utd this summer and who might solve their weaknesses
Man Utd enter talks to sign attack-minded left-back; Wolves ace also eyed for defensive revamp
Manchester United WILL sign a new left-back this summer and talks with a Ligue 1 star have opened, while their hunt for a new centre-back could take the Red Devils to Wolves, according to reports.
The upcoming summer is shaping up to be a monumental one for Man Utd. Sir Jim Ratcliffe is pulling the strings and a sweeping squad rebuild is expected.
Jonny Evans, Raphael Varane and Anthony Martial are all off contract at season’s end. Elsewhere, Man Utd will listen to offers for Casemiro, Donny van de Beek, Jadon Sancho, Mason Greenwood and Antony.
West Ham are set to make a second attempt in their quest to sign Harry Maguire. Reports in Italy state Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be replaced, while Christian Eriksen has made no secret of his unhappiness at his lack of game-time this season.
With so many exits on the cards, a plethora of new signings will be made. According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, one new addition will definitely come at the problem position of left-back.
Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia have both been plagued by injury this term. The end result has seen the likes of Diogo Dalot, Wan-Bissaka and Victor Lindelof tasked with deputising out of position on numerous occasions.
“Manchester United have already planned months ago to bring in a new left-back in the summer; expected to be a young one, an important player,” declared Romano last month.Related video: Why The Manchester United Takeover Isn’t What It Seems (FourFourTwo)
So First off, Sir Jim Radcliffe,
“Shortlist to be decided once board structure will be completed but Man Utd will go for a new left-back, no matter what happens with Malacia.”
READ MORE: Man Utd playing ‘tough poker game’ with £73m star as Bundesliga giants initiate ‘concrete negotiations’
Ratcliffe turns to what he knows
Now, according to the Evening Standard, Man Utd’s search for a new left-back has taken them to French side Nice who fall under the INEOS umbrella.
The Standard state Man Utd are ‘in contact’ with 23-year-old left-back Melvin Bard.
Bard is described as an attack-minded full-back who is on the cusp of earning a senior call-up to the French national side.
A deal between United and Nice should be easy to make given they share the same ownership. Furthermore, a sale may actually be in Nice’s best interest given Bard will enter the final two years of his contract this summer.
How much a transfer might cost was not hinted at in the piece. Online outlet Transfermarkt list a modest best estimate of just €12m.
DID YOU KNOW: Why Man Utd want to appoint Jason Wilcox as Ratcliffe revamp gathers pace
Kilman to partner Martinez?
Elsewhere, a long-term partner for Lisandro Martinez is wanted and prior reports have pointed to Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite as being United’s No 1 target.
But per a fresh update from the Times, Wolves captain Max Kilman is emerging as a viable option too.
Everton value Branthwaite in the £70m-£80m bracket and if that proves too costly for United, Kilman could represent a cheaper alternative.
The 26-year-old has been scouted by United officials on several occasions this season. Talks between United and Wolves or United and Kilman are yet to open.
Regarding Wolves’ stance on a potential sale, it’s noted they’d be reluctant to part ways with their star defender.
Wolves previously rejected a £30m bid for Kilman from Napoli. Kilman has since gone on to sign a new and improved contract that tied his future to Molineux until 2028.
As such, Man Utd may be required to pay well in excess of Napoli’s failed £30m offer to unlock a transfer. Nonetheless, a deal could be made for some way short of the cost it’ll take to sign Branthwaite.
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Gio Reyna: Inside USMNT star’s battle to reverse plummeting price tag during Nott’m Forest loan
Gio Reyna joined Nottingham Forest on loan in January intent on rejuvenating a once-promising career that had stalled at Borussia Dortmund.
But two months and just 82 minutes of Premier League football later, things aren’t going to plan for the 21-year-old American playmaker.
Reyna had options during the mid-season transfer window. Among those courting his services were Sevilla in LaLiga and Marseille in Ligue 1. That he decided to join Forest – a club marred in a relegation battle and embroiled in controversy relating to financial mismanagement – was a curious choice.
The biggest complicating factor in Reyna’s Forest prospects is that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side already contained, in Morgan Gibbs-White, a player of similar profile to the USMNT youngster. Forest paid a club-record £25 million – plus up to £17 million in conditional add-ons – to sign Gibbs-White from Wolves in 2022 and the 24-year-old was voted the club’s Player of the Year last season.
And despite Forest’s struggles, Gibbs-White has only further emphasised his status as the team’s best player this term, scoring four goals and providing seven assists in the Premier League.
It is little surprise, then, that Reyna has figured sparingly since his arrival. The role he is best suited to within Nuno’s 4-2-3-1 set-up is the central attacking-midfield spot, the No.10 position. That belongs to Gibbs-White and, barring injury, the former England under-21 star is unlikely to be displaced.
Reyna’s most impressive recent performances have come at international level. In his last six outings for Gregg Berhalter’s United States side, dating back to October last year, he has scored four goals and provided two assists.
During the most recent international break, Reyna helped the USMNT overcome Jamaica in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-final by providing two late assists for Coventry City’s Haji Wright to score. Then, in the final against Mexico, he found the net in a 2-0 victory.
The latter match is one that gives particular hope for a brighter end to the season for Reyna at Forest. With the USMNT lining up in the 4-3-3 formation, he operated in a slighter deeper starting position than his usual No.10 role, sharing the midfield creative duties with Juventus star Weston McKennie, who also scored.
READ MORE – Weston McKennie: The rebirth of the Juventus star, why Man Utd now want to sign him and the truths around his Leeds struggles
Adapting to a similar remit at Forest could be the key to Reyna’s chances of succeeding at the City Ground, allowing him to play alongside Gibbs-White – rather than the two competing for the same place – and offering a greater degree of creativity and control.
The blueprint has already been drawn up, too. In last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, Reyna came off the bench with half an hour to play. The American midfielder quickly combined with Gibbs-White in the lead-up to Chris Wood’s headed equaliser.
“He had an impact on the game,” Nuno said post-match of Reyna’s cameo. “This is what we expected.
“He was able to control the possession. It was a good combination with Morgan before the goal. Today, it was Gio. Tuesday is going to be another one.
“This is what we expect from all of our players – if you play one minute, help us and have an impact on the game.”
But Reyna’s reward was scant – he was afforded only 13 minutes from the bench in the following Tuesday’s match to which Nuno referred, a 3-1 victory over Fulham.
Borussia Dortmund transfer plan backfiring
According to German publication BILD, Dortmund sent Reyna on loan to Forest with the hope that he’d shine for the Premier League strugglers and thus inflate his market value ahead of a summer sale. So far, that plan has backfired. His lack of an impact at the City Ground will only have caused his potential price tag to plummet.
With seven league games remaining, Reyna faces a crucial period in his young career. Forest are unlikely to want to make his loan move permanent at the end of the season and Dortmund will hardly be fending off big-money offers for the 21-year-old.
His contract with the Bundesliga club doesn’t expire until 2026, so his immediate future options appear limited. Another season of bench-warming could severely hamper his chances of figuring heavily in Berhalter’s plans for the World Cup on home soil in two years’ time.
It would be hyperbole to suggest Reyna has seven games to save his career – he’s still too young and too talented for that to be the case just yet. But along with Forest’s battle against the drop, there is more at stake for Reyna in the final weeks of the season than he’d bargained for.
READ MORE: Man Utd and Liverpool targets feature in the 10 most valuable USMNT stars in 2024
Man Utd: Ten Hag pleads with Ratcliffe to resist temptation to ‘interrupt the process’
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag is hopeful that Sir Jim Ratcliffe won’t “interrupt the process” at Old Trafford and will give him time to see his plan through.
The Red Devils had a positive first season under Ten Hag with the Dutchman guiding them to an FA Cup final, League Cup glory and a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Pressure has been building on Erik ten Hag
But this season has not gone to plan, with Man Utd crashing out of Europe by finishing bottom of their Champions League group, while the sixth-placed Red Devils are struggling for consistency in the Premier League.
Ten Hag took a step forward before the international break when Man Utd beat arch-rivals Liverpool 4-3 in their FA Cup quarter-final but a 1-1 draw at Brentford over the weekend heaped pressure back on the former Ajax boss.
It was the performance as much as the result which will have irked Man Utd fans with Ten Hag’s men allowing Brentford over 30 shots on their goal.
Man Utd face a tough away trip to Chelsea before hosting Liverpool at Old Trafford in a potentially season-defining week for Ten Hag and his side.
READ MORE: Jarrad Branthwaite comes with triple-threat tax for Man Utd or Man City
Chelsea are already on their third manager since a Todd-Boehly led consortium purchased the Premier League club in May 2022 with Mauricio Pochettino already under pressure this campaign.Related video: Ten Hag says Man Utd ‘have an idea’ about cause of injury crisis (SNTV)
Video Player is loading.When asked if the situation at Chelsea was a warning to Ratcliffe and INEOS, Ten Hag told reporters: “I think you need to follow the process. We have good young players coming through. They are developing very well in their progress.
“We are in a good way, a good direction and we need to make the next steps. Don’t interrupt this process.”
Man Utd are nine points behind fifth-placed Tottenham and a further two points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa in the race to qualify for the Champions League.
Erik ten Hag: I know we are not in a good position
The Red Devils do have one game in hand on Tottenham and two on Aston Villa and Ten Hag is refusing to give up on finishing fourth this season.
Ten Hag added: “I have high standards and I would be disappointed if we didn’t qualify. I know it will be very difficult because we are not in a good position.
“But we want to win every game, that is the standard we have here among each other. We will keep going and keep believing in those standards. That will be the approach in every game. We will keep fighting until the end.
“I know we are not in a good position and we have to catch up. Also, I know we have had a lot of problems so I am a realistic man also.
“In a competition that is so competitive and the teams are so close, you need the players to be available. If you have to make compromises your levels will drop and you will drop points.
“If you play in a consistent team, your levels will go up. When you bring in the best players in your squad, you will collect more points and that is a fact.
“So I will be realistic but nevertheless I will keep fighting in every game and I will demand a win in every game because we are Man United and we have to win every game.”
Never wanted Alonso anyway: Why Ange is the Postecoglou to hold post-Klopp Liverpool together
Xabi Alonso, excellent coach that he is, was never the right choice for Liverpool. Nor are Ruben Amorim or Roberto De Zerbi. They should be looking at Spurs…
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.
Postecoglou the man for Liverpool
Well said Ryan Baldi, perhaps the first football pundit in this country to actually “get it” so far.When you replace Klopp, you’re not just replacing his tactical acumen (plenty of that), his legendary man management (too many examples to go into here) but you’re having to replace a figurehead, a personality, someone who brings a club together and gets everyone pulling in the same direction.
With all due respect, is Alonso all of that? I’m not really sure he is. He’s clearly a very good coach, as is Amorim and De Zerbi.
But do they do ALL that? I’m really not sure they do.
READ MORE: Forget philosophies and tactics; who has the personality to replace Jurgen Klopp?
You need someone who’s not scared of the job either. Someone who’s come up the hard way, and each time they’ve stepped up, they know they can still do it.
I’ve said this a few times now, but if you’re looking for all those boxes to be ticked, you could do a lot worse than Ange Postecoglou. He grafted for years, then he rejuvenated Celtic, very quickly. And he’s doing it again at Spurs, who were a mess before he went in, and had lost Kane. The football’s really good to watch. He can handle himself in the media (very important). Sure, there’ll be some concerns about his defensive record at Spurs, but don’t forget he’ll be working with better players. Oh….and he’s a boyhood Liverpool fan.
Spurs fans won’t like me for saying it, but in terms of a fit, Liverpool won’t find much better. It’s Big Ange for me.
Andy H, Swansea.
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates a goal.
Chaos v comfort
Maybe the point Calvino, is that people can get their head round the City-Arsenal bore draw. After the match every man and his dog was saying how terrible that game was. But given time to think, people started looking at the history of that game and who was playing and started to think: “Declan Rice, Rodri, Saliba. City missing some players…. Yep, I can see what’s happened here.”What do people think when they see United – fresh from a scintillating, chaotic victory over the Premier League leaders – being awful against a Brentford side who’d be in a proper relegation battle if Luton stopped throwing games away?
“Oh right, yer….um…..injur…er……..Nope.”
I suspect people don’t like it when they can’t really understand what’s happening and as Mr Nicholson says, people also don’t like uncertainty. United being rubbish seems to delight and confuse in equal measure.
If people would just accept that United are on a very slow path back to the top (if we even get there) then they’d be able to enjoy our wildness (or rubbishness) while it lasts.
Ash Metcalfe
MAILBOX: Are you entertained? What’s better – Man Utd chaos or Man City control?
The answer to the question is – we want to see winning with style.
Watching Man City is like watching a machine at work. Very clever and interesting for about 10 minutes. But ultimately unsatisfying.
Maximus Decimus Meridius of Gladiator fame got it right. Make it look like the other team have a chance, then pull it out of the bag right at the end.
Actually, Valentino Rossi managed to do the same for long periods of his career too.
Jon
Spurs a fraction away from competing
Tom is right, absolutely right.I think, when I said two players away from being competitive with the three at the top, I based that on a lack of luck with a run of absences which we simply couldn’t handle. Had those injuries not have happened, and each team who’ve been blighted by them this season will have their hand raised too, then who knows?
I do believe that the club is a fraction away from being good, and lucky. Good signings have come in for relative pittance, or from out of the blue, whilst big signings have almost routinely failed, however the set up behind the scenes has improved so much that there is trust among the support, not wholehearted, but trust nonetheless, that signings will be made based on the immeasurable but also the basics. Ndombele will be an albatross Levy’s neck, so now, big money signings need to have more than just a YouTube check.
I’d say that the signings made are all bar none, proving to be of significant value. Which is why, when I say big signings (two – probably three in honesty), I would say big upgrades not big money – like City can eat up without a seconds thought.
I look at the like of Arsenal and Liverpool because those were teams we were competing with five years ago before we derailed, the reasons being many but ultimately obvious, Tom makes this point well, the top of the Tottenham pyramid weren’t capable, and we tumbled away.
I hope Spurs can become another team to make the title race an unprecedented four way fight, or that Villa can make it it even more competitive. I suspect they’re about to find out that their bank balance will come under scrutiny, so maybe not them, but it would be great to have a league which functions on good and luck for multiple teams.
Or, we finish seventh.
Dan
The Villa reaction
City (Foden) were very good. We had half a team out.We move on.
UTV. Paul
Manchester City to go trophyless
In recent weeks city fans and some pundits have been telling us that it’s only a matter of time before City go on their ‘unstoppable march’ and win the league. They always do. But they’ve just played their direct rivals and drawn both games. Draws they were seemingly happy to take, removing KDB at anfield for a pragmatic change whilst only managing one shot on goal against Arsenal. It’s almost like they were scared of loosing. Anyway a chance to take control of the league has been passed up and now they’re relying on other teams to do what they couldn’t do. I genuinely doubt they can win the league from hereThey’re still in the UCL but I doubt they will win that too. They would have to get through Real and hopefully Arsenal to win it but their record against the big boys is poor and not a coincidence. They lost a lot of quality over the summer( gundogan, mahrez, palmer??) that were not replacement sufficiently. Kovacic won’t score you any goals, Doku is just a fancy Adams traore, Nunes is the new Phillips. Add to that Alvarez is having a poor season while Haaland continues to go missing in the big games. Did I mention the leaky defense? Now that I think about it there may not be an all English semi-final to look forward to.
Of course they are still in the FA cup and only one step away from facing their favorite punching bag. However, that game against Chelsea comes at an awkward time in-between the Real games. Even Pep doesn’t seem all too pleased with the timing meaning an upset isnt out of the question.
There I said it. City to go trophy less this season.
Philip
Arsenal discourse
Wish Arsenal had given it a go at the Etihad like Villa did last night, instead of playing for a decent point.That’s what top teams do. Zzzzz
Jbrusty
I know a lot of people are going to moan that Arsenal didn’t do enough yesterday to look like they will be champions after only scoring 2 against an insipid Luton side and the amount of chances Arsenal actually conceded to them. I, however, don’t care about the number of goals scored yesterday. After a taxing defensive Sunday evening I am happy that we didnt break any sweat and still won the game and kept a clean sheet.
Yes we did’t do much but that’s a good thing because we will need that energy in another game which is just around the corner.
Posab (Arsenal seem to get critized for anything and everything these days) Botswana
Penalties and club bias
I had meant to respond with this point to Hartley MCFC Somerset’s prior mail about penalties and club bias, so I’m glad the MC decided to publish this second one Wednesday afternoon.Hartley points out that clubs who have undergone managerial changes involving significant differences in style and tactics (ManUtd: Ole vs Jose, Chelsea: Tuchel vs Others, etc) had coinciding big changes in their penalty statistics. Hartley asks whether this is evidence that playing style is more important than club size, and I would answer ‘definitely yes’. Leicester being granted more penalties than any other club over a period of 9 years, + more home penalties than Liverpool at Anfield during that time, is hard to argue against.
But even if we refer back to Hartley’s prior mail, which reference stats from 2023-24 only, we can see signs of this. Brighton had as many penalties awarded (5) as MCFC MUFC and NUFC. Villa had as many home penalties awarded (4) as MUFC and NUFC, and are just behind Chelsea. Newcastle featuring on these lists to begin with is a further sign that it has to do with playing style and tactics.
The only outlier statistic seems to be the number of penalties awarded to Tottenham, based on both 2023-24 and on the 9 season period. Either Conte’s tenure at the club had an outsized impact on the 9 year statistics, or Tottenham may have a case to claim some sort of bias against them. But that’s an argument for Tottenham supporters to make, not me.
Oliver Dziggel, Geneva Switzerland
A quick question
I was reading a newsletter from The Anfield Wrap which cited a Liverpool defeat away at Tottenham in the 2008-09 season. I did not remember the match/the incidents in question, so I looked up the highlights.This prompted me to remember that Robbie Keane did, in fact, exist, and that Robbie Keane did, in fact, play for Liverpool FC.
This led me to wondering, who are the biggest/most famous footballers that other Mailbox contributors entirely forgot about?
Oliver Dziggel, Geneva Switzerland
