Stretty News

Among the host of clubs mulling over a move for Marcus Rashford this month is a surprise suitor in the form of Manchester United’s Premier League rivals.

Indeed, Tottenham Hotspur are said to have established their interest in the ‘unsettled’ forward by joining AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Monaco in the race, according to Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail.

Barcelona have also been informed of Rashford’s situation, with reports from Spain suggesting they’re ready to go ‘all out’ for him on a half-season loan deal; their precarious financial situation means a permanent transfer mid-campaign is near impossible.

Talks have already been held between Milan and Rashford’s agent, Dwaine Maynard, leading some fans to believe the Serie A giants are front-runners as things stand.

United have under three weeks to resolve Rashford’s situation

Should the 27-year-old be omitted from Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Arsenal, it’ll mark the seventh straight game that he has been uninvolved, having last featured for the club on December 12 in a Europa League clash with Viktoria Plzen.

When pressed on Rashford’s future at the club and whether he could return to Old Trafford after a prospective loan deal, Ruben Amorim told reporters in his pre-match press conference: “We will see, guys! Let’s focus on the game. They are available, and they are training. We will see the selection for this game – but you have to focus just on playing the next game.”

Expectedly, the boss has – and will – remain tight-lipped on the matter, though that’s not to say there aren’t discussions taking place behind the scenes. The prospect of Rashford staying and being restored to the fold in the coming weeks remains on the table, especially after his £325,000-a-week wages have proven to be a stumbling block for several interested clubs.

Manchester United booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup this evening, courtesy of a 5-2 win over Leicester City.

Goals from Casemiro (x2), Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes (x2) saw the Reds cruise past Leicester despite their two attempts at inspiring a comeback through Bilal El Khannouss and Conor Coady.

Tonight’s game may well be Ruud van Nistelrooy’s only match in the dugout, and if so, it’s certainly a way to make a statement in case he ever needs to be called upon again.

Shortly after the full-time whistle, Director of Sport Sir Dave Brailsford confirmed to supporters outside Old Trafford that Ruben Amorim’s prospective move to United was a ‘done’ deal. It comes after three days of constant negotiations between all parties, with all signs pointing towards the 39-year-old being Erik ten Hag’s long-term successor.

Amorim’s first shot at silverware will be the EFL Cup

While Amorim may have to complete a notice period of around 30 days, Brailsford’s words will surely be music to fans’ ears. He was INEOS’ first-choice candidate to take the reins following Ten Hag’s turbulent tenure, and they were incredibly efficient in getting an agreement over the line within hours of starting negotiations.

As such, he will be in the dugout for the Reds’ last-eight cup tie. They were drawn away to Tottenham Hotspur tonight, who had just knocked out Manchester City after a 2-1 win on home soil.

Elsewhere, Liverpool will face Southampton away, Arsenal will host Crystal Palace and Newcastle United host Brentford. The ties will be played from the week commencing December 16, giving Amorim ample time to get to grips with the squad at his disposal and, ideally, implement his play style.

Spurs have endured a mixed start to the Premier League season thus far, having won four, lost four and drawn once in their opening nine matches.

Manchester United left fans deflated after another 3-0 loss at Old Trafford this season with a poor performance against Tottenham Hotspur.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag was looking for an inspired performance to use this game as a platform to turn the club’s form around.

However, it was a horrendous performance with the visiting Spurs side dominant before the red card to Bruno Fernandes.

Going in at the break 1-0 down with 10 men, there was a slight hope that the former Ajax manager’s side could make it hard for Tottenham and scrape an equaliser.

However, those hopes were soon dashed as Dejan Kulusevski doubled the visitor’s lead two minutes into the second half.

Dominic Solanke clinched Tottenham’s third goal in the 77th minute.

It is a difficult performance for Manchester supporters to endure and they will be hoping for a better showing in Portugal midweek against FC Porto.

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur player ratings

Andre Onana -5- Saved a couple of 1v1s to prevent further goals.

Noussair Mazraoui- 4 – Tried to battle but struggled with the pace of Timo Werner.

Matthijs De Ligt – 4 –Struggled to stop Micky Van de Ven for the first goal. Had a tough task with 10 men.

Lisandro Martinez – 4 –Struggled to impose himself on the game and prevent Spurs chances.

Diogo Dalot – 3 – Dalot was unable to deal with wingers on the right wing and gave away possession easily on numerous occasions.

Manuel Ugarte – 4– A tough afternoon on his first start in the Premier League, was unable to deal with James Maddison who was able to find space to create chances for the visitors.

Kobbie Mainoo – 4 – A difficult afternoon for the young midfielder, before being taken off through injury.

Bruno Fernandes – 3- A very frustrated figure who added to the misery of the performance after being sent off for a late challenge on Maddison.

Marcus Rashford – 3- Rashford was unable to affect the game in attack. A tough afternoon for the winger.

Alejandro Garnacho – 4- Attempted to be creative and kept running at the Spurs’ defence in a tough game after being down to 10 men.

Joshua Zirkzee – 3- A quiet afternoon for the summer signing who was unable to link up play in attack.

Subs:

Casemiro – 4- A tough ask being brought on in the second half, was solid in possession.

Christian Eriksen – 4 – A difficult task to come on but struggled to create.

Amad Diallo – N/A

Heung-min Son could be a doubt for Tottenham’s trip to Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

Tottenham Hotspur breezed past Qarabag FK with a 3-0 win in the Europa League on Thursday night, despite being reduced to 10 men for most of the match.

Spurs were forced to play with a man down after Radu Dragusin, deputising for the suspended Cristian Romero, was shown a straight red card after seven minutes.

It was still a good way for Ange Postecoglou’s side to prepare for Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford, where they will take on Manchester United in the Premier League.

United go into the game after two consecutive draws. The most recent coming in the Europa League on Wednesday night against FC Twente as Erik ten Hag’s side threw away a 1-goal lead against his former club.

Tottenham have injury concern ahead of Manchester United trip

Heung-min Son curling effort that was saved by Qarabag’s goalkeeper was rebounded by Dominic Solanke, who made it 3-0.

However, Son appeared to sustain an injury during the passage of play after pulling up and requiring treatment before before hauled off.

The South Korean captain was replaced with Timo Werner coming on in his place.

Tottenham are expected to provide an update on Son in the coming days before they travel to United in the league for Sunday’s big game.

Manchester United are adding more players to Marc Skinner’s team.

Celin Bizet has travelled to Marbella with Manchester United’s women’s team after completing a transfer from Tottenham, according to the Daily Mail.

The Reds triggered a £60,000 release clause in Bizet’s contract before she passed her medical on Sunday.

Bizet, who represents Norway on the international stage, had a year left on her contract having joined Spurs in 2022 from Paris Saint-Germain.

Aged 22, Bizet can play in a variety of attacking positions including either way. She made 20 appearances in the Women’s Super League last season and recorded four goals.

Bizet is United’s sixth summer signing after the arrivals of Dominique Janssen, Elisabeth Terland, Anna Sandberg, Simi Awujo and Melvine Malard.

The women’s team has also waved goodbye to several important players over the summer, so it will be intriguing to see if they can build on last season’s underwhelming league form under Marc Skinner. Those departures include Katie Zelem, Mary Earps, Gemma Evans and Irene Guerrero.

In Skinner’s defence, however, the women’s team won their first major honour last season when they lifted the FA Cup at Wembley.

Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton has won the PFA Young Player of the Year award following a season-long loan at Tottenham Hotspur.

Clinton fended off competition from several talented stars, including Manchester United team-mate Maya Le Tissier, to win the prize. The other candidates were Aggie Beever-Jones, Lauren James, Khiara Keating and Jesse Park.

However, Clinton’s performances were not in a Red shirt. She spent last season on loan at Tottenham, making eight-goal contributions as they finished sixth in the WSL.

The midfielder’s performance earned her a place in the England squad as she made her debut against Austria.

United are likely to keep Clinton as part of Marc Skinner’s squad this season.

Speaking the PFA awards, Clinton said: “It’s such an honour to be voted by the unbelievable players that play in this league. It’s the best league in the world…

“To go out on loan, learning as a young player and being recognised is lovely. I’ve played with confidence and when you play with that then you see the best version of a player.

“Tottenham have been a massive part of my journey, and I can’t thank them enough.”

She added: “Goals and visualisation are important to me but most of all just enjoying playing. If I’m enjoying myself then I play my best football.”

Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton is the PFA WSL Young Player of the Year!

The 21-year-old scored four goals during an impressive loan spell with Tottenham last season. #MUWomen pic.twitter.com/l8kCpXcG2F

— Hits Radio News | Manchester (@hitsmcrnews) August 20, 2024

Tottenham reached the FA Cup final, but Clinton was unable to play due to being ineligible against her parent club at Wembley. United’s women team won their first major honour that day in what was a memorable occasion for Skinner’s side.

Skinner will be aiming for a stronger WSL campaign this time around.

Manchester United are among a host of Premier League clubs mulling over a move for Lille’s Jonathan David.

Despite welcoming Joshua Zirkzee to Old Trafford over the weekend, it’s thought that the Red Devils’ forward additions may not stop there.

INEOS chiefs are seemingly looking to compile a prolific striker department following a season in which the squad was decimated by injuries; Anthony Martial, in particular, was of no use to Erik ten Hag in his final term as a Red.

As such, David has emerged as a viable target to get over the line this summer, primarily due to his reported asking price of just £25 million. The 24-year-old is on the back of a stellar campaign in France, scoring 26 goals and notching nine assists in 47 appearances across all competitions.

David free to complete summer move after Copa America exit

His form carried over to international duty, too. Called up to represent his native Canada at the Copa America, the attacker netted twice for his country at the tournament. His second contribution came in Sunday’s third-place play-off against Uruguay, although Marco Bielsa’s side reigned victorious in the penalty shootout.

Transfer journalist Pete O’Rourke claims Tottenham Hotspur are ‘obsessed’ with David and are hoping to to pip the likes of United, Chelsea and Newcastle to his signature with an imminent £25m bid.

It remains to be seen if the Reds will match Spurs’ efforts.

Manchester United are preparing a bid for Tottenham Hotspur fullback Sergio Reguilon, having cut short his tenure as a Red back in January.

Indeed, the Spaniard spent four months at Old Trafford after signing on loan from United’s Premier League rivals last September. He was targeted as a stop-gap transfer to bolster Erik ten Hag’s options on the left-hand side of defence following injuries to both Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia, the latter of which missed the entirety of the campaign.

Reguilon proceeded to make 12 appearances in all competitions – seven came from the offset, while nine were in the Premier League. After United opted to activate the break clause in their loan agreement with Spurs, he spent the remainder of the season with Brentford.

Reguilon to return to M16

Now, with Shaw’s frequent injury woes making him an unreliable left-back to rely on over the course of a term and Malacia yet to return to first-team action since his lengthy layoff, INEOS’ transfer chiefs are scouring the market for a permanent squad addition.

Football Insider claims Dan Ashworth and co. have settled on bringing Reguilon back to familiar surroundings – but this time on a long-term deal. The 27-year-old is reportedly available for a ‘cut-price’ fee and has been deemed a ‘priority’ to provide coverage to Shaw next season.

Manchester United could face competition for Jarrad Branthwaite’s signature from another Premier League club.

Alan Hutton believes his former club Tottenham Hotspur could “hijack” United’s pursuit of the Everton centre-back.

Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton stated that Branthwaite would suit the Tottenham defence, offering the squad extra depth and quality.

United have already agreed personal terms with the 21-year-old England international, who was unlucky to miss out on a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024.

That means United have been in pole position to sign Branthwaite, but Hutton is not ruling out the possibility of Spurs signing Everton’s best defender.

“I feel at times [Tottenham] have been light in that sense, actually across the back four,” Hutton said.

“When you look at their starting back line, if any of them get injured or go missing for a good length of time, the players that come in aren’t quite up to the standard.

“To have someone in the door with that potential who could be a regular starter for England moving forward, that could be a great deal.

“He did really well last season, and there are talks [Cristian] Romero could be on the move, so there’s a few things in the pipeline that might lead towards them going for someone like [Branthwaite], and him filling that void at centre-half. I have heard there could be a hijack there, from people I speak to at the club.”

Embed from Getty Images

That could be quite something, if Spurs were able to beat United to Branthwaite’s signature.

United are expected to make a second bid for Branthwaite after the first offer was rejected by Everton.

The only way I see that happening is if Tottenham are willing to meet Everton’s £70million demands. The fee United want to avoid paying for his signature.

Former Tottenham scout Bryan King believes Gugliemo Vicario could be the missing piece of the jigsaw for the Reds, although I think he is forgetting that we already have a top keeper in Andre Onana, who has improved in recent months.