Patrick Rees
Remember the last time a player moved to Manchester United from Liverpool? Well, you need to dig deep to find an answer for that. It was back in 1964 when these two clubs agreed to do business, but it was the other way round. A certain Manchester-born forward Phil Chisnall moved to Liverpool from Manchester United. For Manchester United, it was way back in 1938 when Liverpool agreed to sell Allenby Chilton to Manchester United and the centre-half went on to make more than 300 appearances for the Red Devils.
Their rivalry is all set to take a massive turn this time around, as Italian news outlet Tuttosport has claimed that Jose Mourinho has set his sights on Liverpool midfielder Emre Can next summer. The source adds that Mourinho sees Can as a perfect and long-term replacement of Michael Carrick, who signed a one-year contract with the club this summer. The 36-year-old midfielder is yet to feature in Manchester United’s Premier League fixtures and is widely expected to retire at the end of the current campaign.
Emre Can, on the other hand, would see his current Liverpool contract expire at the end of the current season, and although Liverpool have time and again stated that they wish to hand the German a new contract, the midfielder is yet to put pen to the papers.
If the German indeed decides to leave Liverpool, United will quite rightly find it hard to acquire him right away. Italian champions Juventus have been long-term admirers of the midfielder and their CEO Beppe Marotta has already confirmed that they submitted a bid for Can this summer, which Liverpool rejected right away. He also confessed that Liverpool are too keen on keep hold of him that a January bid would be worthless.
He said,
“As for Emre Can I don’t think Liverpool will sell him in January. We made an offer for him in the summer but the Reds didn’t sell him so I don’t think they’ll change their mind in the middle of the season.”
It is interesting to see what lies in store for the German given the fact that Liverpol have already acquired Naby Keita. Can, on his day, is rightly described as a ‘Tank’ but when off the guard, he sometimes becomes a liability. Emre Can is a quality midfielder but whether he can be a replacement for someone as good as Carrick is a big doubt.
