A Manchester United scout watched one of the club’s main summer transfer targets get substituted at half-time of a 3-0 home defeat and oh dear.
GET RICH OR DIE TRYING
It rather sums up the precarious situation at Everton that while supporters can revel in victory over Chelsea, club suits are rubbing their hands together at the prospect of the scorer’s value going up. Richarlison netted his fourth goal in five games in that 1-0 win; that rich vein of form is being welcomed in more than one way at Goodison Park.
There is hope on Merseyside that an offer of £50m or more can now be attracted for the Brazilian. Football Insider cite only ‘a recruitment source’ as saying the club ‘will accepts’ such a bid and ‘are increasingly confident’ it will come.
Richarlison ‘has made up his mind’ on leaving and so Everton could be seen as simply preparing for the inevitable, particularly with their financial struggles. It is not made expressly clear who will be throwing £50m at Frank Lampard’s feet but Richarlison will have his suitors.
NEVER SAY NEVES
Manchester United might be able to spin one of their senior scout’s attendance at Brighton’s thrashing of Wolves as a positive, despite Ruben Neves ostensibly being the player watched. The Portuguese returned from a knee injury for his first game in gold since the defeat to Leeds six weeks ago, but was substituted at half-time in the 3-0 defeat.
Perhaps that will bring his valuation down. Bruno Lage has mentioned a £100m price tag for the midfielder on a couple of occasions over the past few weeks but the Birmingham Mail suggest something a little more reasonable.
While Wolves are unlikely to demand a nine-figure sum, they will ‘expect a significant increase’ on the £41m received from Liverpool for Diogo Jota in summer 2020. This comes from the ‘growing belief’ that after five years at Molineux, Neves might move on to pastures new.
It has to be said, Ruben Neves is the best player I’ve seen in a Wolves shirt in 53 years of watching the team. Grealish at £100M does not impact or control a game like Ruben does so any potential suitors can start the bidding at £100M plus or feck off. #wwfc
— Phil Hough (@Phil_Hough) April 28, 2022
MART BUSINESS
Neves will have a couple of years remaining on his contract by the end of the season. That makes him a far simpler target to procure than Lautaro Martinez, who extended his deal with Inter to 2026 in October.
Yet Manchester United have not been put off and, according to Italian journalist Marco Barzaghi, are trying to kill two transfer birds with one stone.
As well as bringing in a new and excellent forward, Manchester United attempted to offload Anthony Martial in a part-exchange, Barzaghi told his YouTube channel. “There’s talk of Manchester United making an offer of €50million plus Martial for Lautaro Martinez,” he said. But “Inter aren’t interested in it it as they would only want cash,” which would help in their pursuit of Paulo Dybala.
This comes after the recent claims that Martial could be in line to have the rest of his Old Trafford contract paid out, thus easing the process of his protracted departure. A £12m pay-off should do it. Ouch.
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