Manchester United could move for Mehdi Benatia in January, as their fruitless summer search for defensive reinforcements becomes increasingly desperate as days lengthen, and so does the gap between United clean sheets. The 31-year-old has spent seven of Juventus’s 11 league games on the bench and played in only one of their three Champions League fixtures, and having recently complained that “I struggle to play with no consistency” a move to Old Trafford might make sense for all involved. For a start, the Moroccan international would probably feel right at home in an entire team that struggles to play with any consistency, plus with 18 months remaining on his contract and only a bit-part role in the team, Benatia might also prove a bargain, at least compared with the more expensive options the club half-heartedly pursued in pre-season.
United could be about to make another signing from Italy, if reports of their interest in Roma’s sporting director, Monchi, are to be believed. The Spaniard has faced criticism in Italy for sanctioning the sale of several prize assets (Mohamed Salah, Alisson, Antonio Rüdiger and Radja Nainggolan) and with Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid also interested this might be an ideal moment for Roma to get this Monchi off their backs.
Liverpool appear to be sniffing around Europe in search of decent players with contracts that expire next summer, with Adrien Rabiot (him again) and Iker Muniain both identified during their continental sweep as potential future bargains. The race for Rabiot looks set to be one of the season’s most hotly-contested, with Manchester City, Barcelona and the midfielder’s current club, PSG, all hoping to convince him to sign on their own dotted line. Meanwhile, Napoli are jostling for position at the front of the queue for Muniain, though the 25-year-old forward is considered most likely to disappoint them both and sign a new deal at Athletic Bilbao.
The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.
The latest managerial gossip suggests that Mauricio Pochettino isn’t going to Real Madrid after all, with the Sun reporting that “uncertainty at Real and constant disruption behind the scenes put him off the idea”, and asserting that the tip-top tactician has now “told them to forget it”. Meanwhile Arsène Wenger might return to the dugout this month, says the Mirror, who have discovered that the Frenchman is in talks with Milan, where he would be emotionally reunited with the former Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis – though as the Rossoneri have won their last three games, and six of their last eight, this would seem a somewhat unlikely moment for a managerial change.
No wins in seven makes the time relatively ripe for action at Southampton, with the same paper claiming that Mark Hughes could lose his job on the south coast if the Saints fail to beat Watford on Saturday. “Top of the list of potential replacements are Sam Allardyce and David Moyes,” they write, inevitably, “while a popular choice among supporters is former Saints manager Gordon Strachan.” The Scot’s first stint at Southampton ended with Strachan being declared by the club’s website “a hugely popular figure on the south coast” who “will be dearly missed by the players, everyone at the club and fans alike”. That was nearly 15 years ago, so those clamouring for his return clearly have long memories, but on the plus side he is available.
Meanwhile in well-it-wouldn’t-go-anywhere-else news, Wolves will allow the highly-rated 19-year-old defender Cameron John to leave the club on loan in January.
Be the first to comment