Football transfer rumours: Kevin Strootman to Manchester United?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/10/football-transfer-rumours

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We need to talk about Kevin. Specifically, Kevin Strootman. The tireless, ball-winning Roma enforcer looks a bit like Robin van Persie and has been on Manchester United’s radar for several years, but is once again being strongly linked with a move to the club now that Louis van Gaal is in charge. Running through metaphorical walls is what Strootman does best, but popular lore has it that he particularly enjoys smithereening them for Van Gaal, who controversially tore up the Netherlands’ tactical template on the eve of last summer’s World Cup, when it became apparent that his midfield general would miss the tournament due to a knee injury. Switching from a fluid 4-3-3 to a counterattacking 5-3-2, Van Gaal outraged many in his homeland ahead of their opening match against the reigning champions, Spain. For all that, things worked out OK for him in the end.

With Strootman currently being eased back into action having played bit-parts in three matches for Roma in the past month, including almost an hour of their 2-2 draw against Sassuolo last weekend, United are expected to inquire about his availability during the January transfer window. Needless to say, this availability may well hinge on whether or not Roma make it through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, so Manchester City could inadvertently do their bitter rivals a huge favour by eliminating the Serie A side later this evening. With Chelsea also reported to be interested in signing the midfielder, the Roma owner James Pallotta has insisted he is going nowhere.

“It is just not happening,” he said in October. “I have told the papers that they should stop wasting paper. We don’t have any interest in selling Kevin. Obviously as business people when people call us and say ‘we want your player’ you are going to listen to them. You have to do that, that is the business side. That doesn’t mean you are going to make a decision that £75m, bang you hit the bid. That is not the way it is going to work, it is not the way it does work with us.”

Manchester United have also “emerged as favourites” to become the next employers of Enzo Pérez, a great ball-carrier and set-piece specialist whose many fine qualities Van Gaal will have seen up close when the Benfica midfielder helped Argentina beat Holland in the World Cup semi-finals. Last year’s player of the year in Portugal, Pérez had been expected to sign for Valencia, but the La Liga side appear to have been priced out of a move for a man who is contracted to Benfica until 2018 and valued at £25m. According to the Daily Express, United are also preparing a £24m bid for the Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben, another player with whose work Van Gaal is very familiar.

With their first- and second-choice goalkeepers Tim Krul and Rob Elliot both injured and expected to be out until January, Newcastle are hoping to bring the Chelsea stopper Mark Schwarzer in on an emergency loan. Such short-term signings are permitted “under exceptional circumstances” outside the transfer window under Premier League rules and a dearth of goalkeepers at any one club is considered to be high among them. Although Newcastle’s third-choice goalkeeper Jak Alnwick performed very capably on replacing Elliott in victory against Chelsea last Saturday, the 21-year-old and the club’s next option, Freddie Woodman, boast just one appearance for the Magpies between them and their combined age is four years less than that of the 42-year-old Schwarzer.

Whether or not Chelsea will let their third-choice goalkeeper go to Newcastle or not remains to be seen, as José Mourinho rejected an identical bid from Fulham for the Australian in October. In other goalkeeping news, Crystal Palace and Everton are duking it out in a bid to secure the scrawl of Norwich City’s £4m-rated John Ruddy, while Liverpool are still interested in replacing the gaffe-prone Belgian Simon Mignolet with Chelsea’s Petr Cech or Stoke City’s Asmir Begovic.

And finally, the influential agent Jorge Mendes is rumoured to be touting the Monaco central midfielder João Moutinho around any English clubs prepared to stump up £30m for his services. Some reports suggest Arsenal have already made tentative inquiries, while Chelsea and Manchester United are also being linked with the Portuguese.