Transfer rumours are a dime a dozen. Very few have genuine substance so they should always be taken with a huge amount of cynicism. Yet they cannot be completely ignored in case there’s the slightest grain of truth in them. Some media outlets are obviously more reliable than others so Truly Reds is prepared to report the gossip and give a rating of 1 to 5 as to how believable it’s likely be. A rating of 1 can almost certainly be dismissed out of hand while a 5 may give the story some merit and warrant a small wager. Have a look at the latest sports news and transfers being reported but be warned – only believe what you want.
The newly crowned Premier League Champions may be on the brink of a domestic and European double but they will carry out the biggest overhaul of their squad in 16 years this summer. The MailOnline carried a story that Chief executive David Gill confirmed on Sunday that veteran Paul Scholes is likely to follow Gary Neville into retirement and up to eight more could leave Old Trafford in the most significant shake up since Sir Alex Ferguson famously turned to his young generation after offloading Mark Hughes, Paul Ince and Andrei Kanchelskis in 1995.
Tomasz Kuszczak was horribly unconvincing at Blackburn on Saturday and will follow Edwin van der Sar out of the club while Michael Owen is unlikely to be offered a new deal Rated – 3
Manchester United are in contact with Real Madrid for striker Karim Benzema says El Confidencial. Benzema has been a long term target for United manager Sir Alex Ferguson who failed with a £40 million bid for the striker while he was still with Lyon two summers ago. United are now willing to put £35 million on the table to convince Real to sell.
Benzema is ready to move on after seeing his place taken by fit again Gonzalo Higuain in recent weeks and becoming aware of rumours that Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente will arrive in the summer. Unless either Dimitar Berbatov, Nani – or both, are on the way out of Old Trafford, you have to ask whether Ferguson REALLY needs the France international? Rated – 2
Seeing it is one thing, believing it is another! The Daily Mirror is reporting that Manchester City are ready to smash the world transfer record to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to the Premier League. Roberto Mancini’s men joined European football’s elite last week by qualifying for the Champions League for the first time. Now City want the Portuguese superstar to spearhead their bid to win the trophy next season.
Ronaldo, 26, moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United in a record £80million move in 2009 and signed a six year contract worth over £100m. The bigger question is whether Mancini will still be at Eastlands next season despite taking City into the Champions League OR as has been consistently reported, he’s on his way back to the Serie A with Ronaldo being his first attempt of a major signing. Difficult to even give this story a rating of 1 so it must be RATED – 0
Sir Alex Ferguson is set to fight Liverpool all the way for Newcastle left back Jose Enrique. The feeling on Merseyside was that boss Kenny Dalglish had the Spaniard’s signing in the bag – but People Sport believes Sir Alex Ferguson is also in the running.
Bayern Munich have already told £15million rated Enrique, 25, they can offer him Champions League football next season. AC Milan are also big admirers of the player Newcastle signed from Villarreal for £6.3m in 2007. People Sport revealed back in January that Ferguson watched Enrique play in Newcastle’s win at Wigan, despite United left back Patrice Evra, 30, agreeing a new deal at Old Trafford Rated – 3
Manchester United have offered injury ravaged midfielder Owen Hargreaves a new one year, pay as you play deal according to the Sunday Express. The England international has only played six minutes of first team football since he underwent double knee surgery in January 2009. His contract is up at the end of June and United were thought to be looking to cut their losses on the £19million signing from Bayern Munich.
But Sunday Express Sport can reveal that Arsenal are keen to land the 30 year old on a free transfer. United, though, have come up with an incentive based deal hoping Hargreaves, who is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury, can still have a role to play at Old Trafford. I personally highly doubt it as the midfielders career sadly appears to be well and truly over Rated – 1
