Sridhar Bhamidi
The successful transfer of Romelu Lukaku has set the ball rolling at Old Trafford. Manchester United are now ready to go full swing in the pursuit of their targets which should be music to the ears of Red Devils’ fans.
The Express takes cue from the reports coming from Italy to state that United were in touch with the representatives of Marco Verratti. This comes as a total surprise because we were not really linked with the player thus far!
The Italian midfielder is widely tipped to leave Paris St. Germain this summer with Barcelona touted to be his most probable destination. The lure of Nou Camp did sway the Italian but his club are not willing to sanction a transfer.
The impasse in the transfer has certainly encouraged United with the Red Devils reportedly intimating Verratti of their interest in taking him to Old Trafford.
What should seriously encourage Jose Mourinho is the plan from Verratti to link up with super-agent Mino Raiola. Having already facilitated the move of Romelu Lukaku earlier this month, Raiola is a known figure in the Old Trafford circles.
Not just Lukaku, he also manages Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan apart from the Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Reaching out to Raiola is something that Sir Alex Ferguson may not approve but no fan is complaining. He already has a galaxy of stars in his pocket – pun intended – and Verratti will be a quality addition.
Is this going to move from rumour to reality? Personally, I would appreciate Verratti joining us but there are a lot of pieces to fall in place for this to happen. Raiola joining the camp will make discussions easy for United and may even give us a leg-up. According to transfermarkt.com, the PSG midfielder is rated at 45 Mill.€, a valuation that United will have no problem meeting it.
However, making PSG part ways with one of the most talented midfielders will prove difficult if not impossible. Barcelona have already exhausted more than half of their patience trying to coerce the Parisians to discuss a move. Can United do one better than Barca? Dare not to say but it looks tough!
If they do, am sure this will rank up higher in the list of coups that Ed Woodward could ever pull off!
