Manchester United - News

Gossip:

Manchester United will not risk a protracted pursuit of Tottenham and England striker Harry Kane, 29, in the summer, with the prospect of dealing with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy meaning they are focusing on alternative options, including Napoli's Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, 24, and Juventus and Serbia striker Dusan Vlahovic, 23.

Tottenham have no intention of selling Harry Kane this summer and will instead look to agree a new contract with the England captain.

Manchester United could make another move this summer for one of their long-term targets, Inter Milan's Netherlands defender Denzel Dumfries, 26.

United are also planning to let Uruguay winger Facundo Pellistri, 21, go out on loan next season.

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Manchester United are ready to join the bidding to sign England midfielder Jude Bellingham, 19, from Borussia Dortmund.

Manchester United, Newcastle, Brighton and Brentford have all shown interest in Spain and Celta Vigo midfielder Gabri Veiga with other Premier League clubs also previously showing interest in the 20-year-old.

Gossip:

Manchester United are prepared to sell club captain and England centre-back Harry Maguire, 30, and Sweden defender Victor Lindelof, 28, this summer.

Ghana midfielder Mohammed Kudus, 22, hopes to stay at Ajax beyond the end of the season despite interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

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Manchester United have stepped up their interest in Monaco's 25-year-old France defender Axel Disasi.

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is set to increase his bid for Manchester United to £5.5bn.

Manchester United and Liverpool lead Barcelona in the race to sign Wolves and Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves, 26, this summer.



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Manchester United: Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus says he has made bid for club..

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Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus says he has submitted a bid to buy Manchester United.

Zilliacus wants to buy half of the club with the purchasing of the other half by fans, who will be involved in the club's decision-making process.

Interested parties had until 21:00 GMT on Wednesday to put their bids in but the deadline has since been extended.

"Any sport club ultimately should belong to its fans. My bid is built on equality with fans," said Zilliacus.

"The current development, where billionaire sheiks and oligarchs take over clubs and control them as their personal playgrounds is not a healthy trend.

"The current market value of the club is just under $3.9bn (£3.17bn). That means that if every one of the fans of the club would join in buying the club, the total sum per fan would amount to less than $6.

"My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half.

"If every fan joins it means less than $3 per fan."

Zilliacus plans to give fans a say through an app from which they can "participate and cast" their vote "when deciding on footballing matters relating to the club".

Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim are the only publicly declared bidders and are expected to submit second, revised offers having met with United officials earlier in March.

It is also understood US investment company Elliott has made an offer to purchase a minority stake, irrespective of who ends up owning the club.

Zilliacus, who has previously been involved with HJK Helsinki and ice hockey champions Jokerit in his homeland, is the founder and chairman of new social media group novaM Group.

He wants to buy United through XXI Century Capital, which is an investment firm owned by his holding company.

Marcus Rashford delays Man Utd contract decision amid new 'Cristiano Ronaldo rule'..by Dan Marsh

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Marcus Rashford is ready to wait for the Manchester United takeover saga to conclude before putting pen to paper on a new long-term contract with the club.

Rashford, 25, is currently enjoying a renaissance under the guidance of Erik ten Hag and is already on course for his best ever goalscoring season after plundering 27 goals in 44 games this term.

The current Old Trafford hierarchy are desperate to tie the England forward down to fresh terms as Rashford will have just 12 months remaining on his deal at the end of the current campaign. However, Rashford is ready to hold fire on talks over a new contract until the club's long-term future becomes clearer.

According to The Sun, Rashford and his advisors wants to know what any of United's prospective new owners would be willing to pay the Red Devils academy graduate before making any concrete decisions over his long-term future.

INEOS chief and boyhood Manchester United fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani are widely considered to be the two frontrunners in the race to acquire the club from the Glazer family, who are currently entertaining takeover bids.

Although Rashford is ready to bide his time, it remains to be seen if the club would be willing to offer him more than the £300,000 that the report claims has already been tabled - a figure that is significantly higher than his current £200,000-a-week deal.

Earlier this year, reports revealed that Ten Hag, United chief executive Richard Arnold and director of football John Murtough had devised a new 'Cristiano Ronaldo' rule following the Portuguese superstar's exit.

The rule, which is effectively a salary cap, was devised in a bid to deter any dressing room unrest when it comes to wages. It is believed that Ronaldo pocketed around £480,000 a week at Old Trafford before he agreed to terminate his deal during the World Cup.

If United and Rashford are unable to come to terms on a new contract - either during or after the ongoing takeover process - then the Red Devils will be vulnerable to losing their new talisman, who has no shortage of admirers across Europe.

Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez is known to be a big fan of Rashford, who has also been extensively linked to Paris Saint-Germain in the past.

As things stand, Rashford would be free to negotiate with clubs from overseas once he enters the final six months of his contract and would be able to leave Manchester United for free if no agreement is struck between now and next summer.

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Manchester United are interested in signing Benfica and Portugal forward Goncalo Ramos, 21, who has a release clause of 120m euros (£105.6m).

Striker Evan Ferguson, 18, will turn down a move to Manchester United because the Republic of Ireland international thinks staying at Brighton will be better for his development.

Meanwhile, Manchester United will consider Brentford's Spanish goalkeeper David Raya, 27, as an alternative to his compatriot David de Gea, 32, who is yet to agree a new contract.

South Korea defender Kim Min-jae has been linked with Manchester United but the 26-year-old says he is not interested in rumours about his future and that he wants to focus on playing for Napoli.

David de Gea rejects Manchester United contract offer..

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David de Gea has reportedly rejected a contract offer from Manchester United despite the fact his current deal expires at the end of the season.

The 32-year-old goalkeeper has been at Old Trafford since 2011 and has made a total of 529 appearances for the club.

De Gea has won the Premier League, FA Cup, Europa League and two League Cups during his time with the Red Devils.

The Spaniard has more clean sheets than any goalkeeper in United’s history but there have been suggestions he could finally leave the club.

It had been thought Erik ten Hag might look to bring in a new goalkeeper with ball-playing skills better equipped to playing out from the back.

The Athletic are now reporting that De Gea has rejected United’s offer of a contract extension, although talks are expected to reach a ‘positive conclusion’.

De Gea currently earns £375,000 per week and is the highest-paid goalkeeper in the world, with United looking to significantly reduce that figure.

If an agreement cannot be reached, United may look at alternative options, with the club linked to a move for Brentford goalkeeper David Raya.

Gary Neville believes Raya would be a good replacement for De Gea as he told The Overlap: ‘I think he’s going to become available, he’s only got a year left. I think he could step up.’

Former Premier League goalkeeper David James, meanwhile, has urged United to consider a move for Brighton star Robert Sanchez.

He told Lord Ping: ‘If United are looking for a replacement for [De Gea], a player with Premier League experience, then I think Sanchez could be the guy.

‘He has the potential to be an absolute monster.’

Brighton and Brentford have both enjoyed impressive seasons in the Premier League and currently sit seventh and eighth in the table respectively.

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The Top 5 Manchester United Goalkeepers with most appearances:

1..Alex Stepney..... - 539
2..David De Gea.... - 529
3..Peter Schmeichel - 398
4..Gary Bailey........ - 375
5..Alf Steward....... - 326

Manchester United: Premier League club owe almost £1bn, reveal new figures..

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Manchester United owe £969.6m through a combination of gross debt, bank borrowings and outstanding transfer fees with associated payments, according to new figures.

The club released their second quarter results to 31st December on Thursday.

Unlike previous years, there was no investors' call afterwards as a result of the ongoing "strategic review".

This could lead to the sale of the Premier League club.

The review itself is centred on how to meet the club's long-term capital investment needs, specifically for improvements to Old Trafford and the club's Carrington training ground, and - it is being stressed - is not due to any issues with short-term liquidity.

Nevertheless, the amount owed the club has grown.

While the principal debt remains at $650m, a change in the exchange rate meant the club owed £535.7m compared to £477.1m at the same point in the previous year.

In addition, £206.2m has been taken from a rolling credit facility, with another £227.7m owed in outstanding transfer fees. The club did have £31m in cash or equivalent, but the overall sum remains just short of £1bn.

BBC Sport has been told the figures are evidence of a "stretched" financial situation, although it is being stressed that this has already changed for the better, due to bumper matchday revenues and impressive season ticket sales - and they expect that to continue.

Indeed, in posting profits of £6.3m for the quarter, United have also revealed sponsorship revenue has increased 43.2% to £50.4m over the prior quarter. The club said this was due to the impact of their training kit agreement with Tezos, plus a 'one-off sponsorship credit', which they have opted not to detail.

Wages were down £20.4m to £77.3m, a decrease of 20.9% as Erik ten Hag's team are not in this season's Champions League.