No Mascherano, No Simao, and definitely no Ruud swap for Carrick

Unrelated rant: I’ve been accused of turning SoccerLens into a Manchester United soapbox – the idea is, and always has been, to bring in more writers so they could take over specific clubs and cover their news. Till that happens though, I’ll keep writing about what I feel is most important (and what I know most about): Manchester United.

Three ridiculous rumours have spread today – the first a Manchester United bid for Javier Mascherano, the second a swap deal proposed by Valencia (Simao for Ronaldo), and the third a piece of dren offered up by The Sun in a rerun of the “Nistelrooy for Carrick” swap story.

None of them are true, and here’s why:

No Mascherano: Manchester United are still waiting on their first choice European midfield targets (Vieira, Gattuso, Carrick). Only when these three fail to materialise will Ferguson look elsewhere.

No Simao/Ronaldo swap: This one takes the honours for the dumbest thing I’ve heard since they talked about O’Shea being swapped for Carrick. Simao is still a Benfica player, and if that doesn’t tell you how stupid this is then I cannot help you.

No Ruud for Carrick deal: Silvestre, Fletcher, Giggs and John O’Shea have all been linked to a ‘swap’ deal for Carrick, and Ruud is just another name cropping up. Unless Manchester United get a straight player-for-player swap without having to pay any additional money, they won’t send Ruud. And even then the prospect of Ruud going to a club not in the Champions League or to a Premiership club is highly unlikely.

And if you are the sort who is not appeased by an optimistic / realistic view of Manchester United’s chances next season, here’s a pessimistic / realistic take on the subject by United Rant:

Hard-Nose Reds Face Trouble

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