Man Utd and the ‘shock’ £60m transfer exclusive that’s nothing of the sort…

Manchester United are being linked with a ‘shock’ £60m Manchester United transfer that’s no ‘shock’ at all.

And it’s been given the ‘green light’ by Jack Grealish.

When is a Man Utd transfer shock not a Man Utd transfer shock?

Raise your hand if you are remotely shocked that Manchester United are being linked with Adam Wharton?

Even regular readers of Football365 would not be surprised; we reported interest in August and then again in September, when we laughed off suggestions that the Crystal Palace and England midfielder could cost just £60m.

The only shock at the weekend reports of a £60m Wharton deal is that Daily Star Chief Sports Writer Jeremy Cross has the gall to call this an ‘exclusive’. It’s either cheeky as f*** or incredibly lazy as ‘Wharton to Man Utd’ is more olds than news.

We’re told in the headline, sub-headline and opening line that it’s a ‘shock £60m raid’. To who? To Cross? Certainly not to us or anybody else paying attention over the last two months.

Amorim believes Wharton has the technical abilities to be a huge success at United. Palace have not been opposed to selling some of their biggest names, if the price is right.

And United believe a bid in the region of £60m would be good enough to lure Wharton to Old Trafford next summer.

Well they can ‘believe’ all they want, but genuinely…will it balls.

The irritating thing about this ‘exclusive’ is not necessarily that Cross is claiming an ‘exclusive’ on an old story, but that other outlets blindly follow suit, with The Sun saying that ‘MANCHESTER UNITED are reportedly plotting a shock £60million bid for Adam Wharton’.

Literally three days before, they published a piece that said ‘Wharton has long been on the radar of United, Manchester City and Liverpool’. So it’s not a sodding ‘shock’ is it?

Goal also call it a ‘shock’ move because where one leads, everybody follows like click-thirsty sheep.

Obviously, since reports of this ‘shock move’, Palace chief Steve Parish has made it clear that Wharton has shown no interest in moving to another club, while telling talkSPORT: “I think Adam at some point will want to play either in the Champions League with us, if we can make that happen, or probably with another club. He’s an extraordinary talent. I think right now, and I can’t speak for Adam, but I think he’s focused on his time at Crystal Palace.”

Put that through the Reach spin machine at the Mirror and…

Adam Wharton issues Man Utd transfer demand as Crystal Palace star eyed

Adam Wharton has said f*** all. Hell, even Parish says that Wharton has said f*** all. He definitely has not ‘issued Man Utd transfer demand’. In fact, some would say he has done exactly the opposite.

Green light…means danger

The phrase ‘green light’, when not referring literally to a green light, means ‘permission to go ahead with a project’. Councils give green lights to planning applications, company directors give green lights to budgets, and in football terms, sporting directors give green lights to transfers.

You know what you absolutely need to give a green light? Control over the lighting system. If you have no power, then you cannot give permission.

Which brings us to the Mirror and this monstrosity of a headline:

Jack Grealish has already given Man Utd green light for huge transfer

Now, Grealish is an excellent footballer but he is not a sporting director at Manchester United so he cannot give the ‘green light’ to a ‘huge transfer’, unless he is the player in question. Which is presumably what we are supposed to think, that United are interested in the Everton loanee and Grealish has understandably given the deal an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Obviously we know that to be bollocks, so which ‘huge transfer’ has been given the ‘green light’ by a party with absolutely no power to make a decision?

If Manchester United are looking for more reasons to sign Adam Wharton next summer, Jack Grealish has given them one. That’s after the Everton winger came out firing in his admiration of the Crystal Palace midfielder.

FFS.

So the ‘green light’ given by Grealish to a huge Manchester United transfer is that he described Wharton as “the best player on the pitch” when the two teams met eight days ago.

That’s not a ‘green light’ to a transfer; that’s one footballer admiring the work of another footballer.

This was not ‘a glowing review to any potential suitors – including United’; this was one footballer admiring the work of another footballer.

Yes, it’s the international break. But does that mean we have to pretend Jack Grealish is about to join Manchester United? Now that would be a ‘shock’…