Manchester United won’t buy Nani, Gignac or Fernandes
Update: After Nani’s signing, many people have come to this thread and took the time to point out that I was wrong.
I wish they’d also take the time to read the first line of the article, which specifically states that I am (was) talking about the January 2007 transfer window, in which, as far as I remember, Man Utd did NOT sign Nani.
Rumours surrounding Manchester United this week are back on potential transfers and who we could be looking to buy in January. Three names have been linked - Nani (Sporting Lisbon), Gignac (Lorient) and Fernandes (Porto).
And no, Manchester United are not signing any of them. Here’s why…
First up, the Nani rumour has been fuelled by a baited interview from Ronaldo in which he was asked if he would like to see Nani playing at Old Trafford. Links between Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United (stemming from Ronaldo’s transfer 3 years ago) have also fed the rumour. The problem is, I cannot find a single shred of concrete evidence that Manchester United are looking to buy Nani - all Sporting Lisbon have said is that there is interest and that they are looking to sign Nani on an extended contract.
The extended contract is expected and so is interest from clubs around Europe. But until something substantial comes up I wouldn’t bother looking at this any further - Manchester United’s priorities are a central midfielder and a striker, not a winger (not that we don’t buy up quality talent when necessary, but this seems to be media speculation more than anything else). Manchester United could be interested (they inquire about a lot of players every year), but that doesn’t mean they are going to sign him.
The second is Lorient striker Pierre-Andre Gignac, who in an interview said that he admired Ruud van Nistelrooy and that if given a chance, he would love to play for Manchester United. Nice piece of journalistic work, asking a young striker who he likes and then asking him if he’d like to replace him at his former club. SkySports.com staff must be patting themselves on their backs for such excellent reporting.
The third link is Manuel Fernandes - and this is one player I actually think Manchester United should have tried out, but considering that we didnt do anything about him all summer means that Ferguson does not rate him as a finished article yet. Portsmouth are interested in signing him on a permanent deal but I doubt that Benfica will listen - they will most likely wait and see who else in the Premiership is interested before selling him.
Oh, and David Jones is not going anywhere. Fingers crossed.
That’s it for Manchester United ‘transfer’ speculation for today. No more word on Owen Hargreaves, but since he’s injured you wouldn’t expect him to feature in the news until end-November, when it’s time for the rumour mill to start cranking again.
All the latest football headlines.
If we can’t afford to buy Kuznak outright this season that means we have no more transfer funds till next season.
So put your transfer speculations back ion your pocket until July 2007!
We are buying Nani damn it! i demand it!
Would love to see us sign Nani, he would be the perfect replacement for Giggs (in the team, not the position) Also, the speculation started before the question was put to Ronaldo. What concrete evidence are you expecting to see regarding a transfer? Hidden camera footage on a BBC investigation? If things are done correctly, there would be no ‘concrete’ evidence til the kid is at OT holding a United scarf aloft.
Alan - Tomas Weird Second Name has been signed i think.
From what i have heard, he was in the last year ofhis contract at west brom. We have signed him on loan (for a fee of two players) and have agreed a deal with him to be signed in january. That is what i have heard anyway. Also, it was never about not affording him, it was about not going over the clubs valuation of the player.
Tauren - i said that the rumour had been fuelled, or to put it better, enhanced/intensified/multiplied by a factor of 10 by ronny’s interview.
Concrete? let’s say nani says he’s heard of united’s interest, or sporting say they’re talking with united.
things are not done properly 90 percent of the time
Kuszczak is on loan for 6 months, after which we buy him (providing that nothing goes wrong).
What happened to the reports of us signing Kerlon, the brazilian kid. I would love to see him at OT, provided he wants to come. That is what the press do, they hype up the chances of us signing some new wonder kid and then nothing happens and we all think Gill has missed the boat. Maybe we were never in for these players anyway.
i would like manu sign all te player in the rumours list cost the player is useful for helping manu to be the barclays english premier league champion!!!!!!
Ahmed It looks like your wrong!
In my defence I was asking for something more concrete AND talking about the january window
Well you wasn’t too right about the Nani thing..
read the comment above yours, Sam
jus goes to show we dont really know whats going on behind closed doors
???
Do you guys even read comments? Oh well, might as well update the frackin article.
LOL.. I get you Ahmed… Bilko, Imran, Sam… Ahmed wrote the article in Oct 2006 and referred to the Jan transfer window… we did not buy Nani then, so he was correct.
united are the best
U WERE WRONG JUST OWN UP TO IT, EVEN THOUGH U MENTION JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW IN THE ARTICLE YOU KNOW YOU MEANT THAT MAN U WOULDNT GET NANI AT ALL
SO STOP BEING A WOMAN, GROW A PAIR AND TELL EVERYONE YOU WERE WRONG AND NANI IS A GREAT MAN U WINGER !!!
BRAP BRAP
‘Frackin’? You must be a Battlestar Galactica fan Ahmed. So say we all (if anyone else gets it).
Whoo!! I am wondering how people can criticize this. Man Utd have bought Nani but: Ahmed never said they will NEVER buy him, he metioned the January window. It takes some reading (usually a bit more than just the title)
to figure this one out.
Second I get the impression that he is aiming to criticize some terrifying reporting. All the speculation that was gathered on the transfer of these youngsters was equally believable as “wenger is arrogant” (okay, bad example, but you get the idea) which lead to the possibility that anything was going to materialize decreasing to below zero. It was a fair article.
so say we all…