Manchester United’s willingness to spend £85m on a new striker in January has been explained, while Bayern Munich are plotting a surprise raid on Old Trafford for a Red Devils loanee, according to Wednesday’s newspapers.
MAN UTD TO SIGN HAALAND IN JANUARY
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has advised Manchester United to meet the £85m asking price required to sign Erling Haaland in January – amid fears his value could shoot up come next summer.
The prolific striker has been the subject of speculation linking him with United in recent weeks and a report on Tuesday claimed Ed Woodward was growing ‘increasingly confident’ of securing his signature.
However, his club RB Salzburg are said to have slapped a €100m asking price on the attacker if any suitor wants a January deal, which, according to the London Evening Standard, is a fee Solskjaer has advised United to meet for the fear that it could sky-rocket by the time next summer rolls around.
Haaland – the son of former Man City and Leeds star Alf Inge, has scored an incredible 26 goals in 18 matches so far this season, including seven in five Champions League group games, and it is for that reason why Solskjaer believes his fellow Norwegian could prove a bargain signing.
The United manager has been assured funds will be available in January and the capture of a new striker has been made top priority by Solskjaer.
However, the £85m fee would come close to shattering United’s record fee – that being the £89.3m spent on Paul Pogba in 2017 – and it’s likely the success (or failure) of Haaland at Old Trafford will have a significant bearing on Solskjaer’s entire reign.
The capture of the 19-year-old would signal the end of United’s quest to sign veteran Croatian Mario Mandzukic, who is free to leave Juventus for €10m.
AND THE REST
Bayern Munich are preparing a shock move for Tottenham striker Troy Parrott and also want Sheffield United’s on-loan Man Utd star Dean Henderson as a long-term successor to Manuel Neuer (Daily Mail)
Manchester United’s stars have been told not to go outside for more than 10 minutes at a time ahead of their match against Astana in Kazakhstan as the temperature will be around minus 20 degrees (Daily Mail)
Newport County have been forced to apologise to families of Academy players after confidential reports about their children were circulated among other parents (Daily Mail)
Manchester City have opened talks with Raheem Sterling over a new mega-money deal worth around £300,000 a week – just 12 months after he signed his latest contract (Daily Mirror)
Liverpool are set to use their entire first-team squad at the Club World Cup next month and leave a youth team to face Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals – just as Jamie Carragher suggested (Daily Mirror)
Sheffield United defender John Egan could miss the chance to face Manchester United on Sunday after injuring his calf playing for the Republic of Ireland (Daily Star)
Borussia Dortmund have reportedly set their sights on Karim Adeyemi as a replacement for Jadon Sancho (The Sun)
Neymar has snubbed Paris Saint-Germain’s attempts to extend his contract as he eyes a return to Barcelona (The Sun)
Arsenal scouted Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai against Wales with an eye to making him Granit Xhaka’s replacement (The Sun)
Jurgen Klopp held three meetings with Manchester United before snubbing the chance to take over from David Moyes in 2014 (The Sun)
Chelsea do not expect to find out until December whether they will be freed from their transfer ban in January (The Sun)
Manchester City’s wage bill rose by £55m last year – the biggest annual leap in the club’s history – to overtake Real Madrid in the list of the world’s top payers (The Times)
Newcastle’s St James’ Park is being lined up as a potential venue for one of England’s warm-up games before Euro 2020 with Old Trafford and the Etihad Stadium among other possibles (The Times)
Pep Guardiola will not be leaving Manchester City any time soon, claims the Manchester City boss’ agent (Daily Express)
Former Fulham manager Felix Magath is not in running for the Hearts job, though it’s believed a foreigner is in the frame to replace Craig Levein (The Scottish Sun)
Celtic want to re-sign Tottenham midfielder Victor Wanyama on loan in January (The Scottish Sun)
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