Latest Sports Stories

Football News

Another left-back has been a priority all summer, but there seems to be no sign of one coming to Old TraffordAfter signing Aaron Wan-Bissaka in 2019, Manchester United’s PR machine boasted they had scouted 804 right-backs before landing on the Crystal Palace player. At the time it felt like an unnecessary brag, designed to convince fans and journalists the club were doing their due diligence when it came to scouting and data.Now, as the search for a left-back to challenge Luke Shaw drags on with less than two weeks of the summer transfer window remaining, there seems to be a lack of credible targets.As they did with Wan-Bissaka seven years ago, United’s analysts this summer plumped for a prodigious English full-back playing for one of the Premier League middleweights. That player, Lewis Hall, ticks many boxes for the club except for the price, with Newcastle understandably slapping a premium on the 21-year-old having already lost Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães. United have indicated a reluctance to pay over the odds for players and hence negotiations for Hall have hit the rocks, with Newcastle valuing him at about £70m.However, United’s need for a left-back reinforcement to help out Shaw, and probably displace him longer term, is clear. The 31-year-old started every Premier League game last season and performed solidly, but his history with injuries is such that another ever-present campaign is highly unlikely, especially as United will have far more than the 40 games they played last season – the minimum amount possible and the fewest since 1914-15.With the return of Champions League football, United should play upwards of 50 games. With Casemiro gone and Manuel Ugarte unavailable for the rest of 2026 with a knee ligament injury, United would appear to have found the final piece of their midfield puzzle as they pursue Brighton’s Carlos Baleba. Up front, Marcus Rashford is back after loans at Aston Villa and Barcelona and, if he stays, will offer pace and variety to boost the attack.That leaves one major area of concern, heightened by the fact Shaw struggled in a 4-2 pre-season defeat to Ruben Amorim’s Milan on Saturday. Although Jorge Salinas of Racing Santander and Club Brugge’s Joaquin Seys have been linked with the club, both are green and would appear unready to usurp Shaw. Patrick Dorgu is viewed as more of a winger by Michael Carrick while Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui are clunky fits on the left side of defence. Youngster Harry Amass is likely to be sold or loaned out.United will be fairly happy with their midfield business if and when they get the Baleba deal done. Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans have impressed in pre-season after United chose not to go after Elliot Anderson, signed by Manchester City for £116m, nor Tonali or Mateus Fernandes, who joined Tottenham for a combined £185m. A third new midfielder was always needed to reduce the burden on Santos, Tielemans and Kobbie Mainoo over a long season.“We’ve done really good business,” Carrick said last week, before news of the Baleba transfer was mooted. “We’re delighted with that [but] we want more, we need more. We keep looking for how we can do that, so that never stops.“Over time we need to be pushing to enhance the squad, 100% we need to do that.”But if Carrick is to push for one final marquee signing, can United afford not to fully back their manager when there is a hole in the squad? Can they find value in the market as they did with Santos and Tielemans? The hope is a left-back transfer comes out of nowhere, as the deals for the three midfielders have done.Sir Jim Ratcliffe has gained a reputation for penny-pinching since acquiring a minority stake in the club that came with control of football operations. His drive to save money at Old Trafford has been controversial, with staff made redundant and bizarre stories emerging about the ways he and Ineos have tried to cut costs.That said, last summer United shelled out more than £200m on a new frontline, with Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko arriving and impressing in their debut seasons. They also found a gem of a goalkeeper in Senne Lammens from the Belgian Pro League. And their financial outlay paid dividends, albeit after the sacking of Amorim, as Carrick guided United to third place.Many believe refusing to spend more would equate to hanging a bright young manager out to dry. Having won 12 of his 17 matches in charge and being handed the reins on a permanent basis, most agree Carrick has earned the right to lead United for a full campaign.The Baleba deal would be a step in the right direction, but failing to sign another left-back could be a costly transfer mistake from the Old Trafford hierarchy.

Football News

Bid short of Brighton’s valuation for midfielderCameroon international was a United target last summerManchester United are confident of signing Brighton’s Carlos Baleba for less than £75m, with the 22-year-old midfielder having agreed personal terms. United have made an initial offer of £60m plus £5m add-ons for Baleba, which is below Brighton’s valuation.Baleba has been a target for United since last summer, when Brighton valued him at about £100m. The Cameroon international’s price has dropped after his largely uneven performances last season. Baleba, who has an ankle injury, would be United’s third midfielder recruit of the summer, after Youri Tielemans, who was signed for £35m from Aston Villa, and Andrey Santos, who arrived for £48 from Chelsea.Baleba, whose preference is to play as a No 6, would add dynamism and energy to United’s engine room, and compete with Santos for a starting berth.United, whose opening Premier League fixture is at Hull on Saturday, remain in the market for a left-back. Newcastle’s Lewis Hall and Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly are high on the list of candidates.

Football News

Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United in action during a pre-season friendly match against Paris Saint-Germain. Photograph: Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty ImagesBruno Fernandes and Youri Tielemans will be key to Michael Carrick’s chances of success over a full season and of healing the rift between club and fansGuardian writers’ predicted position: 5th (NB: this is not necessarily Jamie Jackson’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)The information at the start of the close season was that Manchester United planned to trade for bargains rather than elite names and the major purchases so far this summer prove this to indeed be the case. Youri Tielemans is a 29-year-old who has been a professional for nearly half of his life and was bought, with no competition, for his £35m release clause from Aston Villa. The midfielder was followed by the £48m (+£2m) purchase of Andrey Santos, a 22-year-old with 11 league starts last season for Chelsea. The Brazilian states a preference for operating “deep, like a No 6” making him the direct replacement for his compatriot Casemiro, whose CV includes five Champions Leagues. United are also set to sign another midfielder in Carlos Baleba from Brighton for around £75m.Michael Carrick, going in to his first full season in charge, admits his squad needs more additions and a new left-back is on the radar. Lewis Hall is the prime target but Newcastle’s resistance to a sale means Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly had drawn interest. At the window’s commencement, Carrick wanted Elliot Anderson but this was unrealistic – he went to City for around £32m more than Tielemans’ and Santos’s combined fee. Confirmed as manager in May after guiding United to third, Carrick may rue Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s reluctance to invest the finances he generated by taking the club back into the Champions League and the 45-year-old may find himself engulfed in precisely what has plagued all of his predecessors in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era: a crisis of performances and results.Carrick also has to wrestle with the Marcus Rashford situation: the forward wants to leave, the club desires him off the wage bill, but can a suitor be found before 1 September? Oh and, Lisandro Martínez and Matthijs De Ligt, two frontline centre-backs, have only recently returned from injury.In early July United unveiled plans for their proposed new 100,000-seater stadium, located about 350 metres north-west of Old Trafford, insisting this is a “sanity, not vanity project”. Behind the catchy line, however, is a club in the red to the sum of £1.3bn. Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, declared in March that £2bn was the working cost of the stadium, which is projected to be completed in 2035. This seems optimistic – try doubling it, maybe.Untrusting, unhappy, annoyed, betrayed, toxic, broken, unmendable, etcetera: choose your pejorative when it comes to describing how most Manchester United fans feel about the Glazers. This has been the case regarding the six siblings, who are United’s majority owners, since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in May 2013. Relations between fans and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s football department could also be rosier. Some are content due to last season’s third-place finish and the success of last summer’s buys – Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbuemo primarily. Others, though, are cheesed off about the current window’s business, the moving of season-ticket holders around the ground to free up seats for corporate packages, and the recent bid to eliminate touts that caused many genuine supporters to have to prove their innocence.Like Ole Gunnar Solskjær before him, Carrick performed superbly in a caretaker capacity. The task now facing him is out-performing his former United team-mate and friend in the role of permanent manager, the Norwegian’s first full season in charge having ended in third place. Carrick’s prospects will be improved if by 1 September a left-back has been recruited. Given Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham have splashed far more cash than United on strengthening this summer, Carrick would no doubt take third – or any Champions League berth – if it was offered to him, albeit he is unlikely to admit as much.After being a major part of Aston Villa’s Europa League glory in May, and then captaining Belgium to the World Cup quarter-finals during the summer, Tielemans has been recruited to add drive, quality and a streetwisen touch to United’s midfield. His career shows a record of making the difference when required – he struck a memorable volley against Freiburg in Istanbul and powered in a long-range winner to claim the FA Cup for Leicester in 2021. There is no doubt about it – the son of Flemish Brabant is a big-game footballer.Manchester United led the Premier League for shots last season, with 596. Much will depend upon Bruno Fernandes if they are to repeat this feat. He created at least 89 chances more than any other member of the squad and only fell six shy of taking the most shots. Fernandes turns 32 in early September; can he outrun age for another season?Shea Lacey, the quick-footed diminutive winger from Liverpool, made four appearances under three different managers last season. On 21 December, an 84th-minute debut in the 2-1 loss at Aston Villa under Ruben Amorim made him academy product No 256 to feature for United. Eighteen days later, entering again on 84 minutes in the 2-2 draw at Burnley, Lacey’s next cameo was for Darren Fletcher. Fast-forward four days and Lacey lasted only 27 minutes of United’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton in the FA Cup after being sent off late on, later apologising. The 19-year-old had to wait five months before making his next appearance for United, this time under Carrick, entering in the 62nd minute of the final-day 3-0 victory at Brighton. He is now very much part of the first-team squad and one to watch.When England needed to stymie Argentina’s second-half onslaught in last month’s World Cup semi-final, with Anthony Gordon having put them 1-0 up, Thomas Tuchel became passive. Off went Gordon and Declan Rice and on came Ezri Konza and Nico O’Reilly. England subsequently crumpled, going on to lose 2-1. If Tuchel had instead turned to Kobbie Mainoo, a ball-carrying midfielder who could retain possession and move England up the field, Argentina may well have been thwarted. As it turned out, Mainoo did not play a second of the tournament. “I was in contact with him quite a bit through the summer [as] I’ve been in that position myself and not played at a World Cup,” Carrick said.

Football News

United unable to financially compete with rivalsRashford back after Barcelona loan but could leaveMichael Carrick has stated that Manchester United will not make a £100m signing this summer due to their finances, with the manager also insisting that Marcus Rashford “is our player” despite the forward and club preferring him to depart.In the current window United have invested a total of £85m on Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos but have never spent £100m on a single transfer.This is in contrast to Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea, the rest of the traditional top six, who have all spent £100m-plus on a player in recent years.Carrick was asked how United can compete. “Money’s money. I get that,” said the manager. “It’s still about football and that’s where the competition lies. What we feel naturally as a group is to try and win games. So there’s a lot that goes into that, but certainly the situation is what it is as well, whether that’s finances or whatever.”Carrick guided United to third last season and was asked why the money from Champions League qualification cannot be invested in expensive elite players.“To be honest, I haven’t got the answers for that. We’re working with pushing everything that we can to make the best of it,” he said. “For now, we’ve got to make the most of it, push everything in every boundary that we can to be able to win again, basically.”The 45-year-old was asked whether United can win the title without any players worth £100m or more in the squad.Carrick said: “A little bit depends on what position that is and what you’ve got and the dynamics you need at certain points. Sometimes you do need that if it’s the right player. Again, it’s not purely on money. Obviously over time we need to be pushing to look to enhance the squad. So, yeah, 100% we need to do that.“We’ve done really good business. So we’re delighted with that [but] we want more, we need more, we keep looking for how we can do that, so that never stops.”Rashford joined the squad at their County Kildare training camp base on Sunday following a post-World Cup break. The 28-year-old has been on loan the past season and a half at Barcelona and Aston Villa respectively, due to a breakdown in his relationship with the club’s executive and the former United head coach Ruben Amorim.Relations have eased and Rashford is focused on working under Carrick, though the player’s preference is to depart. The club want the same as they seek to reduce the wage bill. The forward’s final two years of his deal are worth £35m.Carrick was asked if Rashford will stay beyond the 1 September deadline. “He’s our player and has trained really well,” said Carrick. “It’s been good to have him around the group again.”The manager was asked if he wants Rashford to remain. “He’s a very good player, Marcus, and if you’re going to have a career over 10 or 15 years, there’s going to be times when things go in a direction and maybe a different direction. All right, that happens,” he said. “There’s ups and downs, and that doesn’t judge you as a one-off kind of [state]. It’s what happens over time, and now we’re in a positive place as a group, and Marcus can offer us so much. He has done, and he can do again, so it’s quite exciting.”Asked if Carrick views Rashford as not for sale, he said: “No, he’s our player and he gives something a little bit different in the group.”Harry Maguire, Noussair Mazraoui and Tielemans have all indicated United can win the championship. “We’ve definitely got the potential to achieve something really special,” said Carrick. “I’m not hiding from the fact, and we should aim to do that, but I can’t give you a definite answer on that – it’s certainly what we’re pushing to do because that’s the club we are.”