Reports from high places today imply that Southampton have accepted a bid from Liverpool for the services of England international Nathaniel Clyne.
Having had their first bid rejected the Merseyside giant came back with another couple of million squid and it seems to have done the job.
The Telegraph reports:
The England right back will become the sixth summer signing for Brendan Rodgers and is poised for medical next week.
Now, even the most partisan Liverpool fan will surely admit that, had Clyne been given the chance to join a club in The Champions League instead, he would have given the idea serious consideration. Any player with a semblance of ambition wants to play in the best competitions.
And it’s not as if Manchester United are overloaded at right back. Antonio Valencia, the emergency full back, has worked typically hard but has ultimately underwhelmed. And Rafa da Silva remains a thrilling anomaly who is just as likely to get sent off as put in a MOTM performance.
At 24 Clyne seemed like the ideal solution for Manchester United. He’s a wonderful athlete who loves to get forward and has a wicked cross, but also has the raw pace to recover if he does get caught out in advanced positions.
Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United have a highly meticulous scouting department and we can only assume that he didn’t make the grade in terms of their critical analysis. Perhaps they are concerned that he doesn’t quite have the technique to make it to the top. Or that they have had their fingers burnt with the expensive, yet still promising, signing of Luke Shaw from the same club.
But at £12.5m this guy doesn’t look like much of a gamble.
Perhaps a last minute bid will go in. But it looks very much as if Liverpool have won this battle and Manchester United may pay a heavy price.
Manchester United fans: are you confused by Louis’s lack of serious interest in a player who seems to tick all the boxes?
Ivor
Jun 25, 2015 at 10:45 pm
Written by a bitter Man U fan…. hahahah stupid article!
Ivor
Jun 25, 2015 at 10:46 pm
Written by am Man U fan… totally worthless!
Ivor
Jun 25, 2015 at 10:46 pm
Bad writing!
Man Ure FC
Jun 26, 2015 at 12:24 am
He didn’t want to go to Man Utd. Simple.
steve
Jun 26, 2015 at 2:29 am
Why did falcao join man u with no europe cup at all? Hmmm
Cathal P Forde
Jun 26, 2015 at 6:17 pm
Falcao joined United for the money. The question is why didn’t United make a bid for Clyne? was it a bad report from their scouts? Was it Shaw? well he has competed with the best in the premier league and at 12 million isn’t exactly over priced giving what they paid for Shaw or what Madrid want for a 29 y/o while highly talented Ramos. They are also supposed to be in for Schneiderlin which blows any concerns of being burnt by a saints player out of the water. In fact Liverpool should be more concerned as they bought 4 saints players last season and they didn’t exactly set the league alight. No this may be a massive mistake by United and a massive coup by Liverpool because Clyne is definitely one of the best young fullbacks in the league