June 15 – Transfer Rumors

By: Taylor Rockwell | June 15th, 2009

The Guardian is reporting that contract talks between Carlos Tevez and Manchester United are nearing an end, but not in a good way. Despite Fergie “interrupting his holiday” to twice ring him, the Argentinean goal scorer appears poised to join up with Citeh due, in large part, to an offered 75% pay raise. There’s also something about playing time and overall respect, but I couldn’t hear it over the sound of £140,000-a-week being thrown in Tevez’s direction.

So, it appears United are back in the market for a striker… and, according to Soccernet, they’re fully prepared to land one using their money from the Slave deal. Reports indicate that Fergie is preparing a British transfer record £45 million bid for the talented Valencia striker David Villa. I’m personally not putting a lot of stock in this one, as my guess is that when 1) Villa says he wants to remain in Spain and 2) one former Spanish giant is currently spending more money than Slave at an STD specialist’s clinic, he probably won’t be electing to uproot for the greater Manchester area.

Meanwhile those ever reputable sources over at Goal.com are indicating that United will bid on a Spanish striker, but one found a bit closer to home. The webpage sites a source who claims Manchester will soon launch a £40 million bid for Liverpool star Fernando Torres. Shortly after the bid is put in, hell will (apparently) get really, really cold.

Two players who won’t be going anywhere are Nemanja Vidic (awesome) and Gary Neville (no shit). Vidic’s name was being thrown around as the next Franco FC transfer target, and Neville was linked with a player-coach role at newly relegated Boro. Both men have come out and committed themselves to United for the coming campaign. So, Vidic is committed to playing nearly every match and Neville is content to try to repeat as a Carling Cup Champion.

Lastly, The Guardian’s Andy Hunter thinks that the Valencia bid could be a rather large gamble for United. Two important points to remember (as Hunter points out) is that 1) Valencia may inherit the title of best Manchester United-centric Michael Jackson lookalike and 2) he’s also £1 million cheaper than Michael Jackson Lookalike runner up Nani. Not sure what that last point indicates, but, for some reason, I’m afraid.