MANCHESTER UNITED are ready to make a sensational triple swoop for Arsenals Thomas Vermaelen, Romas Mehdi Benatia and Ajaxs Daley Blind as a move for Juventus star Arturo Vidal heats up. [Express] Juan Cuadrado ’1 step away from being Manchester United player’, agent flying into England. Winning over the dressing Room One of the most intriguing aspects of van Gaal’s appointment is the history of conflict and fractured relationships that have followed the Dutchman to whatever club he has led. At Barcelona he fell out with Rivaldo and at Bayern Munich, it was his tempestuous relationship with the media and overly strict man-management that ultimately brought about his downfall. Whether he succeeds in Manchester could depend heavily on the dressing room buying into his theories and methods – on and off the pitch. There’s no room for inflated egos, something United aren’t short on, and Moyes has been quick to bring several players down a peg. van Gaal will need to pick between Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney for the armband. van Gaal will need to pick between Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney for the armband. Source: Getty Images He ordered Wilfried Zaha to do a double warm down following a game, despite not playing, and berated Darren Fletcher in front of teammates for poor shooting in training. Another crucial factor is who the Dutchman hands the captain’s armband to. He’s not giving much away, but it’s shaping up as a two- way battle between van Persie and Rooney. The former might seem a logical choice as he led van Gaal’s team at the World Cup, but awarding it to van Persie could be seen as a slight on Rooney, a player who’s been at the club and won a lot more than RVP. The two have shown they can play together, but a rivalry simmers between two ultra-competitive strikers as to who is top dog at Old Trafford. To say Van Gaal had a poor relationship with the local media in Barcelona would be an understatement. The two parties rarely saw eye to eye, and that wasn’t exactly helped by the Dutchman’s often abrasive personality. Curiously, perhaps his biggest outburst at the press while in charge at the Camp Nou was directed towards a Dutch journalist. After insinuating that Van Gaal had broken a dressing room agreement by detailing his reasons for dropping Rivaldo , the Barcelona manager exploded, shouting angrily in hilariously broken Spanish at his compatriot. The lecture Van Gaal handed out mirrored his past as a school teacher: “You’re very bad! Saying I broke my pact with Rivaldo? I never broke my pact. You’re very bad. Very very bad. No, no, no, you’re very bad. Very bad! ALWAYS negative. NEVER positive. ALWAYS negative.” You can leave! Barcelona’s training sessions were still open during Van Gaal’s time with the club, but far from trying to hide any dirty laundry from the public eye, the Dutchman seemed to have no regard at all for secrecy. Perhaps the most famous instance of that came during a period when Barcelona were top of La Liga in 1999. Despite their strong progress in the league, Van Gaal was left outraged when his team lost 4-3 in the Copa Catalunya, essentially a friendly tournament. Unhappy with the lack of intensity shown by his players, he went on to pick three in particular apart. First was Albert Celades, a young midfielder at the time. The Barcelona man had recently commented to the local media that he was struggling to find match sharpness due to inconsistent playing time, something Van Gaal didn’t take particularly well. “You aren’t sharp! You aren’t sharp!” mocked the Dutchman to his player’s face. “You have to work, too! Ive read the press!” Not content with one act of public humiliation, Van Gaal then moved on to Roger Garcia, another academy graduate, telling him, “You have demonstrated absolutely nothing. Not even with Barcelona B!”. Considering Roger had played around 50 games for the first team by that stage, having stopped playing for Barcelona B four years prior, it seemed a particularly harsh criticism. In an attempt to defend his brother, (now Brighton manager) Oscar Garcia intervened. Big mistake. Van Gaal reprimanded him for his troubles, shouting, “You don’t want to come back, you can leave! You can leave!” in his face, before expelling both brothers from training. Unsurprisingly, both Garcia brothers left Barcelona the following summer. [08:54, 09/08/2014] Quabhena Emmamens: Manchester United have offered Real Madrid £55m for winger Angel Di Maria. (Da [08:54, 09/08/2014] Quabhena Emmamens: Source: Goal Comments: 0 Date: Sat 09 Aug 01:00 Transfer Talk: Cuadrados agent set for talks with Manchester United The Fiorentina wingers representative will travel to England this weekend to hold negotiations with Louis van Gaals side. Get all the rumours with T... [08:54, 09/08/2014] Quabhena Emmamens: David Moyes time at Manchester United was an absolute disaster says Phil Neville [08:54, 09/08/2014] Quabhena Emmamens: TRANSFER GOSSIP Manchester United have made a £55m bid for Real Madrids 26-year-old midfielder Angel Di Maria. (Daily Express) United will look to sign former Arsenal midfielder Alex Song, 26, from Barcelona if they fail to land Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal, 27. (Daily Express) Manchester City are close to announcing the signing of Portos French defender Eliaquim Mangala, 23, for £32m. (Daily Mail) Borussia Dortmund say they will do all they can to keep midfielder Marco Reus, 25, at the club, despite interest from Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. (Metro) Former Arsenal midfielder Alex Song could move to Manchester United from Barcelona Alberto Moreno, 22, will complete his move to Liverpool next week, but only after the Spanish left-back plays a last game for Sevilla against Real Madrid in the Uefa Super Cup in Cardiff. (Daily Mirror) Atletico Madrid want to sign Tottenham Hotspur striker Roberto Soldado on loan, but Spurs would prefer a permanent deal for the 29-year-old Spaniard. (Daily Telegraph) Tottenham are chasing £2m-rated Nigerian winger Moses Simon, 19, after watching him in both legs of Trencins Europa League qualifier against Hull City. (Daily Mirror) Everton have agreed a season-long loan with Chelsea for Christian Atsu, 22, after giving the Ghana international assurances that he would get regular first-team football. (Daily Mail) OTHER GOSSIP Everton manager Roberto Martinez wants to give midfielder James McCarthy, 23, an improved contract after just one season at the club. (Liverpool Echo) Martinez fears Romelu Lukaku, 21, may miss Evertons first match of the season against Leicester City next weekend as the Belgium striker is still feeling the effects of his World Cup campaign. (Times - subscription required) Former Liverpool forward Robbie Fowler has backed Daniel Sturridge, 24, to thrive for the Reds this season, despite the departure of strike partner Luis Suarez. (Daily Star) Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa, 25, says he will use the frustration of last season as a trigger to spur him on to gain more first-team appearances in the new campaign. (Daily Star) New Sunderland signing Jack Rodwell, 23, says he would advise young English players to think carefully before signing for his former club, Manchester City. (Daily Mirror) Rodwell says he has been at peak fitness for the past 18 months and does not understand why he has been described as injury prone. (Northern Echo) West Broms £10m record signing Brown Ideye, 25, hopes to score in every match he plays for the Premier League club. (Birmingham Mail) Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf says new Paris St- Germain centre-half David Luiz, 27, forgets a huge amount of things when he ventures forward. (Daily Mail) Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has been linked with a move to Serie A champions Juventus Real Madrid are preparing a £10m bid for Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, 32, as they seek to persuade the Czech to become Iker Casillas replacement at the Bernabeu. (Daily Express) Former Arsenal captain Tony Adams thinks Jack Wilshere, 22, is in danger of not fulfilling his potential and says the England midfielder should have taken last summers £42.5m signing of Mesut Ozil as a personal insult. (Sun - subscription required) BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina, 31, says a final farewell to Liverpool fans on Twitter after completing his transfer to Bayern Munich. Coach Ted Lasso, aka Jason Sudeikis, who made such an impression as Tottenham manager last year, returns for the new advert for NBC Sports Premier League coverage. AND FINALLY Portugal and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 29, demonstrated his dedication to fitness by doing 15 clapping press-ups during a training session. (Metro) Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville called Robbie Savage Railings after the Class of 92 match against Salford City on Thursday because the ball kept bouncing off the BBC Sport pundit. (Daily Mail) [08:54, 09/08/2014] Quabhena Emmamens: PICTURE: Thomas Vermaelen’s terrible injury record | Old Trafford Faithful - oldtraffordfaithful/picture-thomas-vermaelens-terrible-injury-record/ [08:54, 09/08/2014] Quabhena Emmamens: Manchester United have launched a £55m bid for Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria with Carlo Ancelotti will to sell the Argentine. source: EXPRESS Napoli are desperate to sign a defensive midfielder in the summer window and have identified Liverpool star Lucas Leiva and Manchester United outcast Marouane Fellaini as their top two targets. source: Corriere dello Sport. Juventus are stepping up their interest in Manchester United foward Javier Hernandez, who will be allowed to leave the club this summer. source: Tuttosport Liverpool will go head-to-head with league 1 side Monaco in the race to sign unsettled Inter Milan foward Mauro Icardi. source: Tuttosport Chelsea and Manchester United are battling it out to sign Roma defender Mehdi Benatia, with the Red Devils now looking elsewhere as Thomas Vermaelen prepares to join Barcelona. source: Gazzetta dello Sport. Real Madrid are lining up £10m for Chelsea shot stopper Petr Cech. source: Daily Express. The agent of Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado will travel to England this weekend in order to hold talks with Manchester United over a deal in the region of £30m to £35m. source: Marca Manchester City are set to complete their £32m move for Porto centre-back Eliaquim Mangala. source: Daily Mail Everton have agreed a loan deal with Chelsea to sign Christian Atsu. source: Daily Mail Atletico Madrid have reignited their efforts to sign Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado but the Spanish Champions want to bring the foward back to La Liga on an initial loan deal. source: Daily Mail
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 09:22:11 +0000
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