LINGARD CONTRACT UPDATE
Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard has revealed that he is in contract negotiations with the club. With his current deal expiring next summer, United will want to tie the academy graduate down after rumours of an Arsenal and Chelsea switch. ‘The contract is still ongoing with talks at the moment… and my heart is at Man United,’ the 24-year-old said. Lingard has been with United since he was seven and will look to continue his stay here.
MORE BAD NEWS
Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini will miss Belgium’s friendly with Russia tomorrow with a toe injury. He is the latest United player to the sick room joining the likes of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Paul Pogba. Plus with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ander Herrera suspended for the West Brom game, Mourinho could face a shortage of manpower. As of now, United only has Michael Carrick as the only fit and available central midfielder. Selling Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger does not seem like a masterstroke now.
ANOTHER RECORD TRANSFER?
Manchester United have reportedly spoken to Neymar’s agent about a proposed £173m move with a £416k-a-week contract. The rumour has sent the ‘alarm-bells ringing’ in Barcelona as they look to keep their MSN intact. Sport claims that United have already met the Brazilian’s representatives. United are also willing to meet the staggering £173m buy-out clause present in his current contract. This is not the first time that Neymar has been linked with Manchester United.
ARMENIAN HERO
United fan-favourite Henrikh Mkhitaryan has stated his intention to return to the starting XI in the Premier League and did his case no harm by scoring in Armenia’s 2-0 win over Kazakhstan. The 28-year-old has not started in the Premier League since 11th February but will almost certainly make a return against West Brom on Saturday.
UPDATE ON PLAYER RETURN
Michael Carrick, Anthony Martial, Ashley Young, Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were not selected by their National Teams. Pogba withdrew with the hamstring injury he picked up against Rostov.
Luke Shaw, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard are free to return to the club as they finished with their international commitments on Sunday.
Jones and Smalling are already at Carrington after withdrawing through injury. Eric Bailly’s Ivory Coast played their last international fixture last night and Darmian and Blind face each other tonight.
David de Gea and Ander Herrera could feature for Spain in their friendly in France while Marcos Rojo and Sergio Romero prepare for another World Cup qualifier in Bolivia on Tuesday evening. Antonio Valencia’s Ecuador host Colombia. Valencia and Rojo are likely starters against West Brom on Saturday and the relatively early scheduling of their games will allow them more time to return, possibly for training on Thursday.