This season has ended on a high for Manchester United and Jose Mourinho, but the Portuguese tactician has not stopped working since his side’s victory over Ajax.
Alongside Ed Woodward, the manager is deciding who he wants to help push his side closer to their 21st league title. Two of the names being thrown around are the Tottenham defenders Kyle Walker and Danny Rose. But will they be convinced to join North West side?
With both Walker and Rose impressing once again for the London side in the Premier League, it comes as no surprise that there are teams waiting in the wings for the England internationals. Manchester City are also interested in adding Rose to their side; hence, Manchester United will face stiff competition from their nearest rivals.
Here’s a look at what both players have to offer:
Kyle Walker
The former Sheffield United man has been a consistent performer for Spurs since he broke into the first team in 2011-12, following a successful loan spell at Aston Villa.
He was named in the team of the season for the 2016-17 season for the second time in his career. He is possibly the fastest defender in the league who is not afraid to go forward whenever the opportunity arises.
Why do United want him?
Despite one of Antonio Valencia’s best seasons at the Old Trafford this year, his advancing years could be a factor against him being the first choice with The Red Devils.
He will start next season aged 32 and could be nearing the “winding down period” of his career. If Walker is available this transfer window, Mourinho might just take the punt and purchase him this year rather than waiting another year to see how Valencia will perform.
Danny Rose
A product of the Spurs youth setup, the left back has gone from strength to strength since he, like Walker, was given his chance of first team football at White Hart Lane. Again, like his teammate, he was named in the 2016-17 team of the season, and it came as no surprise as Spurs only conceded just 26 goals all season in the league; the lowest total in the Premier League.
Why do United want him?
Manchester United have had many players operating at left-back this season, and it seems Mourinho has not been entirely convinced with any of them.
Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian, Ashley Young and Luke Shaw have all played in the left-back position. Shaw is the most natural out of the four but has come under an enormous amount of scrutiny from his manager earlier in the season. The former Southampton man looked to step up to his manager’s criticism but once again suffered another injury.
Will the transfers happen?
The likelihood of Manchester United completing the signing of both players this season seems unlikely but not out of the realms of possibility. They can now say that Champions League football is returning to Old Trafford and they have a cup winning mentality there, certainly a thing that Spurs lack.
Whether Mourinho will replace Valencia this season will be hard to see, but with Shaw falling down the pecking order, you may see a move for Rose become apparent.
United have zero chance of signing Danny Rose. For a start, he has been out injured for months and had recently had an operation to try to fix that. Because of this, there is a good chance he won’t even be fit for the start of the season. No one is going to pay the type of money Spurs would demand under these circumstances. Secondly, there is no hint that he is unsettled and recently said he hoped he could finish his career at Spurs. And thirdly, his relationship with Pochettino is so close that the other Spurs players call him the manager’s son. On top of which, Spurs don’t need to sell and don’t want to sell. Dislodging even one player from that first team is going to be difficult and very, very costly. Dislodging any two (or more) will be well nigh impossible – despite the media’s obsession with trying to break them up.
So, if it will be impossible to sign Rose it will be also impossible to sign both, obviously.
Walker has apparently been unsettled, which can happen when players are blatantly and publicly tapped up. Will he go to United though? Well, I suppose he could,. But United and the media should not think that just because Ferguson has left, Daniel Levy has forgotten, or relented on, his anger over their disgraceful behaviour over Berbatov. So, probably not. In any case, if Walker leaves, and it is still an if despite what the media says, Daniel Levy will squeeze the pips of whoever pushes for that. It certainly won’t be as low as the media’s favourite “City are prepared to pay” tapping-up figure of £40 million.
Winning cups nobody else bothers with isn’t a winning mentality
There is not even one chance in a million that United could attract a player from Spurs now. Play for a happy club with stability and your mates alongside you in London; or play under a sociopath who changes job every 3 years, alongside players ho don’t know each other’s names, in a dreary rainy northern town. Hmmm…tough choice
I’m glad the media are touting just walker rose dier Erickson Toby ali and Kane otherwise we wouldn’t have a team to fill Wembley next year