Rumor: It just does not stop... - The Summer transfer thread

The contract situations of Courtois, Kante and Hazard may dictate otherwise (even if I don't doubt the club will do it's part to keep as many of the 3 as possible). They're all pretty much at the same point and if they don't sign new deals, it may all but force Chelsea's hands.
And as far as Willian is concerned, the issue was with Conte who is gone now. It's no given he'll still want to leave: always mentioned previously that his preference was to stay with Chelsea. But with Barca in the mix, then who knows?

 

With the Sandro deal stalling (and talk now that PSG could swoop in), the news about Shaw rejecting a move to Everton, coming from Castles especially, feels like a deliberate leak either from Mourinho's camp himself or United in general.
And if the implication is that we may miss out on Sandro because we failed to move Shaw, that's throwing him under the bus in a major and very public way. And that could be bad news for Shaw...

 

I'd have Pavard without hesitation personally. Was impressed from the first time I saw him in France's friendlies prior to the tournament and his displays since, have only confirmed my original thoughts about him. For a CB by trade to be as solid as he was during this WC at RB, speaks volume for me and he's very energetic up and down the flank, with solid deliveries on the offensive end.
He may not be the finished product yet, but his shortcomings are the type that can be improved upon. Plus, having versatile players, especially at the back for us, would only be considered a good thing.

 

According to Simon Stone from the Beeb, it appears that United's pursuit of Alderweireld is well and truly over. They don't want to get into a lengthy slog with Daniel Levy after the WC, who appears to be dead set on his £75mil valuation.
Alderweireld himself not pressing the issue with Spurs has not helped matters and therefore United are moving from him as a potential target.

 

I certainly don't believe it's over yet, regarding Sandro and that we are in fact still on the running for him. The main complication now is with PSG reportedly in the race as well: that is a worry as it gives Juventus a leg up in negotiations that they didn't have before. And furthermore, they have the financial power to make a legitimate run at him, if they want to.
As far as Shaw is concerned, I'm not concerned about him being an obstacle in our pursuit of Sandro, but I do believe Mourinho and perhaps the club as well, were hoping that we could sell him and he'd be gone. And that's why I would not be surprised if the stories of Shaw turning down a move to Everton, actually were leaked by Jose and/or the club. With the vague, underlying notion that he is a hold up to the Sandro move (eventhough they are just not related). The fact that only Castles is the main source of that story, seriously suggest to me that it's "inside info" from United that they deliberately want out there, for one reason or another (perhaps as a message to Shaw that he's persona non grata?)
AY is going to stay and I imagine that if we do get a new LB, we're not going to want to carry 3 LBs going into the season. Perhaps, it's the message the club was looking to convey. Regardless though, I have little doubt that Sandro is still very much a target for us, perhaps our only real target at that position for this summer.
As such, I could see a scenario where, if we fail to get him, we'll stick with what we have and Shaw, unless he achieves the turn around of all time, will be gone by next summer, as we look to bring in another long term alternative by then.

 

The Guardian and The Telegraph both are reporting that Bale and Lopetegui spoke and Bale was reportedly assured he is central to his plans. In truth, as mentioned in the OTT, it seems that Real could be in for a more frustrating summer than they bargained for and losing another big player in Bale just does not make sense.
The point now though is what will United do? Hope they'll get the message and move on to their next target(s). It's obvious Woodward and Mourinho had high hopes for Bale, but it just not going to happen by the looks of it. 3 weeks or so to go before the season starts and the window shuts (terrible idea btw this early close of the window, in a WC year...), there are viable targets for us to go after. Please Woodward, get it done.
Of course, there's always Plan A (from the fans perspective though) for the RW and go with Martial and Sanchez on the pitch together, flanking Lukaku...

 

Pulisic, Lozano or Bailey are all there for the taking, with the appropriate offer to their respective clubs. Those were always the better options for us to begin with and who Woodward/Mourinho need to focus on now with Bale seemingly out of the picture.