I've got it all figured out then! We're probably getting Otamendi for 50m+ e which is approximetaly 37m pounds after Copa América, he is ready to quit Valencia and despite them having some sort of rich owner(s?) now. They're poised to let him go. Good thing about him is that he's just entering his peak, he's 26 or 27. Perfect age for a central defender. Which hopefully solves our defensive crisis. Some Argentine paper Ole broke the story and as much as I've read they're mostly right about their own countrymen. They also came out with the Di Maria story, so unless something goes very wrong there is a quality CB on the way. The guy is a fucking beast. I'd take him over Hummels right away. Oh and what's most important, he wants to join us. I'm just a little worried that he has played just one season at top level (not top level league but him actually being scary good, never saw him at Porto, actually I have but never paid attention to the guy), in La Liga which is more suited to him. So there's probably a slight chance of him regressing a little when he'd start to play in the EPL. There are TWO reasons to back that up. His height being first, but I think that he can make up for it with his agression and pace. And the other one being his style which is perfectly suited for technical La Liga and predicting how he'd fare in much more physical and "hoofing the long balls forward" England could potentially lead to some strougle at first. But I'm saying again, having watched him for Valencia quite a few times (including matches against Real and Barca) he is a beast.
This will also most likely mean that Evans could be on his way out. I cannot even remember this guy playing more than a couple of times last season, so at least I'm not gonna be missing the guy. This basically means that the central defence should be fixed now. Both Smalling and Rojo were decent enough this season if they weren't out injured. Smalling deserves a special mention here! I guess we should be after a right back as well. van Gaal seems to like Valencia so this probably means that we won't be seeing Rafael no more. No idea who could be the targets though. Reports regarding Clyne have quieted down lately. Carvajal has been mentioned (can't see him leaving Madrid, but considering that they've started another version of their circus yet again and quite early this year - who knows) and the rest I cannot recall right now. Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to get everything out in the open regarding transfers. This Verratti thing is just a pipe dream for me.
Di Maria has had a rough time in the physical EPL and I wouldn't be losing any sleep should he leave, but with another Argentine probably coming in (Otamendi), he's probably staying. He doesn't seem like a quitter and has mentioned that he'd like to give it another go here. So this is the most obvious ones of them all - PSG are obsessed with Di Maria and want him at Paris. I can see him taking the Sheikh's millions and moving to PSG if required. Ligue 1 might be like it is, but PSG are quite strong contenders for the CL every year so that could be the silver lining for Di Maria.
_SO! A proposition to the Parisians should be made, they'd get their Di Maria and we'd just ask for Verratti in return, fuck the cash Verratti is what? 21? That's a midfielder for a decade. And he's not even close to Di Maria's wages. And voila, a perfect replacement for Carrick right there for years to come. It'd keep both parties happy although if I were a PSG fan I'd lose a lot of sleep after should the team I support lose a player like Verratti._
Ok everything in the first paragraphs is all true, tier 0 stuff. The last one is just my wishful and overly enthusiastic hoping and thinking. Just wanted to get it out of my system. But seriously, I'm just wondering if anybody from either of the clubs would even consider something like that? Does van Gaal get along with Italians? Luca Toni played for him... I'd take this deal in a heartbeat and never look back again. Players like Di Maria develop a lot more and often than players in the Verratti mold, I didn't need to think for more than 0.5 seconds to come up with someone - for example Nico Gaitan, oh and we always have Nani, since Young will have Di Maria rotting on the bench Nani could just take his place (on the bench). Anyway that's that. But if I was a PSG fan I would have none of it (my dream and hopelessly impossible transfer) and would never go for it. I don't see why Verratti wouldn't want to come though. CL football back, getting our squad sorted out again etc plus a move to a stronger league which would also help him by making him a better player. Although I do think he'd prefer a move back to Italy, actually I think he has talked about it shortly, I remember some flash of an article. Should Juve come calling for example. He'd fit right in so I'm just gonna get over it and admit that this transfer is just never meant to be. I mean we've never even been linked to the guy, which clearly indicates that Ed and the guys in the management who deal with transfers and all that probably don't even have the guy on the bottom of some backup list. I feel a lot better now. What do the other Utd fans here think about this genius piece of transfer business I came up with which for some reason will never happen. I know kp doesn't like Di Maria and would probably offload him without giving it much thought. Ok that's all and sorry for the long post. But I just wanted to get all the transfer stuff out in the open, well the stuff that is credible + my suggested swap!