Manchester United hit by transfer ‘leak’, Amorim ‘green light’ and ‘complex’ Rashford swap | OneFootball

Manchester United have a transfer ‘leak’ and a ‘green light’, while ‘one major issue’ stands in the way of Liverpool and their main target.

It is a transfer-heavy edition of Mediawatch, which also brings us a ‘complex’ Marcus Rashford swap deal.

But there is a brief stop-off in World Cup-land for the day’s big story.

Breaking snooze

‘England stars urged to avoid taking SLEEPING PILLS as they get to grips with toughest-ever World Cup in North America & Mexico’ is a curious headline to find atop The Sun website.

Is there any suggestion, even the vaguest indication, that England stars are taking SLEEPING PILLS? Absolutely not. But Charlie Wyett has interviewed a sleep expert so here we are, warning people not to do something they already aren’t doing.

Mock the leak

Mediawatch senses that The Sun website has realised the power of one particular word this week, with this headline a case in point:

Nope, still not having the World Cup squad number ‘leak’ to describe a document published by FIFA when FIFA said they would publish it.

And in absolutely no way is it right to suggest that Omar Berrada saying “we want a mix of players who have demonstrated they can perform in the Premier League and perhaps also players who are doing very well outside the Premier League” is a ‘leak’ of some kind.

Then again, the idea that aggregating quotes from an interview with Manchester United’s CEO on the club’s official website might represent some sort of accidental information breach is wonderful.

Not sure who decided that ‘leak’ is a synonym for ‘reveal’ or even literally just something happening. But whomever it was has breathed new life into tabloid reporting.

Mo problems

There is significant transfer movement at Liverpool, too. The Daily Mirror website kindly shed some light:

‘One major issue’, eh? Is it a work permit thing? Do they face some tough competition? Is Arne Slot fighting for custody of Cody Gakpo?

This is Liverpool. Surely they can sort out ‘one major issue’ before signing someone?

‘However, there are major issues to overcome,’ it says here, of their Yan Diomande interest.

Ah, that is quite the ‘major issue’. Could even argue that not wanting to meet the valuation of a player the selling club does not want to lose is bigger than a ‘major issue’. Feels like it might sort of prevent the move from happening altogether. It’s an obstacle alright.

But wait, there is good news.

Yes, ‘one thing in Liverpool’s favour’ is how painfully obviously desperate they are. Now just to overcome that slight conundrum of signing someone without paying the requisite amount of money for them.

Other than that, #WelcomeDiomande.

Ru the day

There will be no such problems for Manchester United, because…

Why wouldn’t the Daily Mirror website take some quotes from Sporting manager Amorim about selling Mateus Fernandes in August 2024 and dress them up as in any way relevant to Manchester United in June 2026?

But of course, where one leads…

‘Ruben Amorim has already approved £80m Man Utd transfer for Michael Carrick’ – Daily Express website.

It must be of immense relief to Carrick to secure two-year-old clearance to sign a player from the sacked manager he replaced. What an absurd weight off the shoulders that is.

Jacquet potato

But back to Liverpool we must go, with the Echo jumping the shark in their relentless coverage of Andoni Iraola’s Anfield appointment:

Do we really need a 600-word article pointing out that Jeremy Jacquet’s first Liverpool game will now probably be under Iraola?

What a shame that headline makes it sound as though they have signed someone else. Although as we know, only minor problems like paying transfer fees stand in the way of that.

Rash decision

We end with the Daily Express website being very silly. It’s what they do best, although usually only when covering Manchester United and numbers.

Manchester United are a factor in this story, but not one of the main players in a piece of glorious fiction:

They could. It’s important to clarify that. They absolutely could sign Piero Hincapie permanently and immediately sell him to Barcelona, who in turn would activate their own buy option on Rashford, purely to offload him straight to Arsenal.

It would involve two clubs signing loanees permanently, just to swap them with each other because player exchanges famously always happen and are actually not just a staple of ludicrous and shameful transfer reporting. And it would also require the consent of those two players, both of whom are known to want to stay where they are rather than being actively traded like commodities.

‘Make no mistake, it’s a complicated deal to pull off,’ the author begrudgingly admits. ‘But one that remains feasible in principle.’

Don’t know if completely manufacturing a ridiculously convoluted transfer scenario which demands the cooperation of numerous clubs and players, then simply calling it’ feasible in principle’ actually makes it so.