As Manchester United prepares to get started with its pre-season training, speculation is rife on our supposed transfer targets. The latest of these, some further speculation into Manchester United’s pursuit of Michael Carrick, has gone totally off-base.

The latest rumour is that Manchester United will be upping their bid for Carrick to 20 million pounds. Leaving aside the fact that this is at least twice as high than the most generous evaluation of the player (not to mention previous bids of 10m and 14.2m), this report is bogus for two reasons:

1. One of the Real Madrid presedential candidates has just announced that Carrick will be one of his targets if he gets elected. The sham at Madrid continues (Ronaldo was similarly ’selected’ recently) and while all those signings the presidential candidates have promised are unlikley, it does allow for third-rate rumours such as this one to fly.

2. Ferguson and Gill are more cautious than ever of making the right decision here and while Jol and Spurs don’t want to lose Carrick (and thus will ask for as much money as possible) the likelihood of Carrick wanting to leave means that 20m is way too high and will lead to United looking elsewhere. Would Tottenham say no to 15m? I doubt it, especially since they are slated to spend at least that much (10 on Berbatov, 6-8 on Zokora), and would need the cash anyway.

Still, Manchester United have made some very strange decisions in the transfer market, so we never know.

For now, all eyes on Real Madrid as the elections are due on Sunday (July 2nd). The winner of those elections may very well determine who goes to Madrid, and it will definitely speed up transfer activity for the players United have been watching (Diarra for one).