News Thread

Manchester United and Adidas have extended their cooperation until 2035 – the deal is said to be worth around £900 million (around €1.04 billion) from 2025 onwards. The current agreement, which has been in place since 2015, earns the English record champions €87.5m per season, while under the new deal it will be €104m. Man United are thus closing in on leaders Real Madrid, who also work with Adidas, and continue to rank ahead of Arsenal.

Benjamin Pavard is in negotiations to leave Bayern Munich and join Premier League side Manchester United. Both the Munich-based paper tz and Sky Germany reported that Pavard told Bayern officials in May that he would like to leave Bayern this summer. According to Sport1, Pavard has not changed his mind and would still like to leave the club. Pavard’s opinion remains unchanged even after the club failed to sign Kyle Walker from Manchester City. 

The Premier League is currently on course to break its record for the most amount of money spent on transfer fees in a single window. So far this summer the combined wealth of the English top-flight has seen clubs spend no less than €1.85 billion on transfer fees, with a considerable amount of time still left of the current window. 

Manchester United and Liverpool seem to find themselves in a similar predicament following summer transfer windows that haven’t yet provided solutions to their main problems. Both Premier League giants may lay claim to some of the best players in the world, but remain in desperate need of more reinforcements in midfield.

With just days left before the transfer window closes on September 1, Manchester United have started talks to sign Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. Sky Sports has reported that the Danish national team player would be allowed to leave his current club Tottenham Hotspur. The Telegraph previously reported Manchester United’s interest in the midfielder. Højbjerg is currently under contract until 2025 at White Hart Lane but is currently playing a diminished role under new head coach Ange Postecoglou. 

With Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia out injured, Manchester United’s only left-back option in the squad is Álvaro Fernandez. Last weekend, Diogo Dalot filled the void in the 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest. With all that in mind, manager Erik ten Hag has been desperate to bring in one additional player, and in Marc Cucurella, a solution has now been found. According to various media reports, Man United would like to loan the Spaniard from Chelsea. 

Titleholders Manchester City have been drawn into a relatively easy Champions League group on Thursday afternoon. Held in Monaco, the draw saw Man City be paired in Group G with RB Leipzig, Crvena Zvezda and Young Boys. Manchester United, in the meantime, are in Group A with Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Galatasaray. Arsenal, who are back to the Champions League for the first time since the 2016/17 season are in Group B with Sevilla, PSV Eindhoven, and RC Lens. 

It promises to be an eventful 24 hours for Manchester United. Not only have the Red Devils made a last-minute attempt to sign Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina, but the side managed by Erik ten Hag has switched their attention from signing Marc Cucurella on loan from Chelsea to Tottenham left-back Sergio Reguilón. According to Fabrizio Romano, at least that deal is now close to being finalized, with a medical set to be completed on Thursday night.

The start of Manchester United’s new season hasn’t exactly gone to plan. Despite picking up six points against Wolves and Nottingham Forest, a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and then a 3-1 demolition at the hands of Arsenal has unquestionably underlined the issues that still dog Erik Ten Hag’s side. The Old Trafford club may lay claim to the seventh most valuable squad in the world and the fourth most valuable one in England, but they certainly aren’t playing like it.

The RB Leipzig and Al-Hilal squads were more expensive to put together than Barcelona’s current squad, but the three of them, together, spent as much as Chelsea. A quick glance at the purchase value statistic on Transfermarkt shows how much in fees respective clubs paid and how it correlates to the current squad value. Barça paid €327 million in transfer fees but has a squad value of €814m—a difference of +€487m, which ranks the Catalans first in that statistic ahead of Bayern Munich, who led it for years.