Gossip: Three Man United defenders out, Bellerin in
BAILLY WORRIED ABOUT MAN UNITED FUTURE
Interesting one, this. Eric Bailly has played only 909 minutes in the Premier League this season, but we assumed that was purely because of his injury issues. Bailly has only been on the bench four times since September, so he’s hardly been getting splinters.
Yet the Daily Mirror’s John Cross writes on Wednesday that Bailly is worried about his future at the club, and believes that he is being frozen out of the club. The Ivorian has reportedly been given the cold shoulder by Mourinho and been dropped from the matchday squad to face Arsenal. That treatment has annoyed some players.
You can see why, given that Bailly is probably United’s most reliable central defender. That leaves Victor Lindelof, Bailly and Luke Shaw all out in the cold, three defenders signed for £90m.
LOADS MORE MAN UNITED BITS
It’s gone Manchester United mad in the gossip columns on Wednesday morning, so much so that we’re presenting it as a list. Brevity is king:
– The Times’ Paul Hirst – who knows his onions – says that Matteo Darmian and Daley Blind have been officially told that they can leave the club this summer. Remember this when Mourinho moans about having no squad depth next season.
– Off to Spain now, and Mundo Deportivo say that Manchester United are now leading the race for Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic because Barcelona are not up for paying the whacking great asking price.
– From yesterday afternoon, the Daily Telegraph’s Matt Law reckons that Chelsea are among the clubs keen to sign Anthony Martial if he is allowed to leave Old Trafford. Is this one going to bite Mourinho on the arse like Kevin de Bruyne and Mohamed Salah?
– Finally, Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan has been linked with moves to Manchester United and Chelsea, but he’s said that he’s staying in Rome “for years to come” so you can forget all about that.
AND SOME NAUGHTY BELLERIN RUMOURS
We’ll end with a story that is almost certainly nonsense. It comes from Spanish newspaper Sport, and concerns Hector Bellerin.
Sport say that Juventus, Chelsea and Manchester United are the three clubs that want Bellerin this summer. But they also say that Bellerin is likely to move this summer, and that Arsenal will look to cash in on the right-back. Surely that’s not right?
Finally, they say that Bellerin would be available for around £35m. At that price, every big club in Europe should consider a move.
AND THE REST
West Ham will pay £30m for Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater. That’s all the ‘and the rest’, because we’re still laughing.