Marmoush transfer in danger after ‘immediate Tottenham blow’ which Baleba overcame
Omar Marmoush has suffered an ‘immediate Tottenham blow’, the sort which Carlos Baleba somehow overcame to join Manchester United.
It’s nonsense. All of it.
Nightmare fuel ‘Arsenal’s Champions League draw in full as Gunners handed nightmare fixtures’ – Daily Express website.
‘Man City handed nightmare Champions League draw with Arsenal also given tricky fixtures as Man United face old foes on return to competition – and Jose’s back at the Bridge!’ – MailOnline.
‘Champions League group phase predicted by supercomputer with Man Utd having a nightmare after horror draw’ – The Sun.
It turns out pretty much everyone faces difficult opponents in the Champions League now.
Horror show That Man Utd ‘nightmare after horror draw’, by the way, is truly terrifying.
‘MANCHESTER UNITED have been tipped to agonisingly miss out on the top eight of the Champions League league phase,’ it says here. Because ‘boffins and brainiacs over at Football Ranked have crunched the numbers to predict the outcome,’ and Michael Carrick’s side are backed to finish ninth.
So they will be the highest-ranked seeded team in the knockout phase play-offs, facing the worst such unseeded side? It doesn’t bear thinking about.
In good stealth Mediawatch does not disagree with the general premise of the latest Jeremy Cross article in the Daily Mirror: that Liverpool were previously far shrewder in the transfer market than Manchester United but are now about the same level of ‘farcical’.
But these paragraphs in particular…
‘In that same period, Liverpool conducted their own business with ruthless stealth. Big targets were kept under the radar, until a deal was so close to being completed it would be made public. ‘This happened with the likes of Virgil Van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister, Alisson and Luis Diaz, to name but a few.’
…seem a bit silly, considering Liverpool felt compelled to publicly apologise for their botched pursuit of Van Dijk after Southampton reported them to the Premier League for an illegal approach.
That wasn’t particularly ruthlessly stealthy or under the radar of them.
I’m afraid I’ve got some Brad news And as for this…
‘Negotiations are taking place with PSG about a deal for Bradley Barcola, with a deal likely to come close to the fee paid to Newcastle for Isak. ‘Under normal circumstances, such a move would leave supporters feeling overwhelmed excitement. ‘The problem is, Liverpool have turned to Barcola in desperation less than a week before the transfer window closes, having pulled out of the bidding for Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh.
…is just bizarre. Liverpool haven’t ‘turned to Barcola in desperation less than a week before the transfer window closes’ at all. They’ve been trying to sign him all summer. It’s just weirdly quite difficult to negotiate £120m transfers.
Cross should know; he tied himself into 427 knots trying to report on Elliot Anderson’s move.
What’s in a number? ‘Bradley Barcola set to wear bizarre unused shirt number at Liverpool’ – The Sun website.
‘Bradley Barcola can wear dream shirt number at Liverpool after PSG transfer agreement reached’ – Liverpool Echo.
One man’s ‘bizarre’ is exactly the same man’s ‘dream’.
We’re in seven There is, however, some truly dreadful news for Omar Marmoush to come to terms with on that front:
‘Omar Marmoush to suffer immediate Tottenham blow after Man City £60m transfer breakthrough’
Seasoned, long-suffering readers of this column might recognise that style of Daily Express website headline, for it was reserved for Carlos Baleba’s move to Manchester United.
The ‘immediate blow’, of course, is that these adults might not be able to wear the same number on the back of their football shirt as they have been doing.
‘Moving to Tottenham will give Marmoush the opportunity to play more regularly, having only made eight Premier League starts for City last season. However, he won’t have everything his own way when he arrives in the capital.
‘That’s because he will need to pick a different shirt number, with his preferred No 7 already occupied by Xavi Simons.’
Might as well try and find the fine print which lets you move back to Manchester City, fella. You won’t play, but at least you’ll keep the No. 7.
Crist alive Samuel Luckhurst is not wrong in pointing out that Manchester United still haven’t sold a single first-team player this summer. It remains an area in which they lag behind pretty much every other elite club.
But this is not the best way to close that argument:
‘Even one of the greatest, Cristiano Ronaldo, was burnt by his association with United. ‘When Ronaldo effectively filed for divorce with his November 2022 interview with the sycophantic Piers Morgan, Morgan said: "If it was just about money, you’d be in Saudi Arabia." ‘Saudi was the only place to offer Ronaldo a home. Even he did not have shoppers flocking to United’s stall.’
Ronaldo ‘did not have shoppers flocking to United’s stall’ because he proved himself to be a petulant, self-centred, 37-year-old manchild whose absurd wages are no longer even close to worth it.
Of course Manchester United failed to find a buyer for ‘even’ him. Not sure how that links to them failing to offload Joshua Zirkzee.
