Manchester United Deadline Day transfer roundup: United will need to make £100 million bid to sign defender as Mourinho rejects €400 million attacker and more – August 9, 2018

Hello and welcome to the Manchester United transfer roundup for the day! Today is the last day of the window in the Premier League, which means English top-flight clubs can’t buy players after today. They can, however, indulge in deals that see their players leave England for foreign shores.

As for Manchester United, will the madness end after today? At the very least, it is expected to slow down after the window slams shut. However, before that happens they still have some business left to do in the market.

And without further ado, we shall write down what is going on for the Red Devils in the market today…

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#5 Alexis Sanchez has his say and Mourinho’s despair

Former Arsenal superstar Alexis Sanchez, who joined Manchester United last January, has urged his club to sign top players ahead of the new season. The Red Devils have only just signed three players in the form of Fred, Diogo Dalot and Lee Grant.

Since then, however, the ocean seems to have dried up for the Red Devils as they haven’t been able to sign anyone – despite the fact that they have been linked with a million of players over the summer.

And Sanchez has now stated that the club must sign big players in order to compete for the title.

"At United, we have to sign big players, with experience. Barcelona just signed Arturo Vidal, who is a great player and my teammate from Chile," he said.

"He is an example of the type of players we need in order to win trophies and compete at the highest level."

However, United manager Jose Mourinho isn’t confident that the club will sign another player in the window as the deadline day runs out.

"I am not confident (on new signings). I am not confident, & the market closes today, so it's time, at least for me, to stop thinking about the market because the market will be close," he said.

#4 Sam Allardyce and Sandro

Sandro to stay

Former England manager Sam Allardyce has advised Manchester United to sell Paul Pogba as he doesn’t think that he is a ‘dressing room boy’ and would have been sold if Sir Alex Ferguson was his manager.

“Sell him,” said Allardyce.

“I don’t think he’s a dressing room boy.

“The only trouble with today is getting in a replacement, letting a player of that size go without any replacements of high quality.

“But, if the reports in the papers are true and whether it’s him or his agent or a bit of both, Sir Alex Ferguson would have just said, ‘see you later’.

“He would have done that. There’s nobody bigger than Man United.”

Meanwhile, according to a report from Calcio Mercato, no club came in with a good offer for Juventus’ Alex Sandro, who was a target for Manchester United, which is why the Old Lady didn’t sell him this summer.

#3 Paul Pogba

The World Cup winner

Barcelona’s links with Paul Pogba haven’t died down and it doesn’t seem like it will as the Frenchman is still being chased by the Catalans. His agent, Mino Raiola, wants him out of the Old Trafford with Barcelona being one of the clubs interested in signing him.

According to Don Balon, Barcelona will keep pressing for the World Cup winner till the very last minute. Manchester United do not want to let go of him but the persistent pressure from Mino Raiola and the player himself puts Barca in an advantageous position.

Further explaining in this report, they add that the Frenchman doesn’t want to stay under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho for another minute and wants to, instead fulfill his dream of playing alongside Lionel Messi as his team-mate at Barcelona.

#2 Dembele and Rakitic

Mourinho doesn't want Dembele

In order to sign Paul Pogba from Manchester United, Barcelona will have to give something back because of the fact that the Blaugranas have already spent a lot of money over the last few transfer windows.

As a result, according to Don Balon, Barcelona are willing to offer Ousmane Dembele to Manchester United as a means to bring Paul Pogba to the Camp Nou. However, Mourinho has rejected the option to sign Dembele, who has a €400 million release clause, and, instead, wants Ivan Rakitic.

On that front, Don Balon further add that Mourinho wants to strengthen his midfield with the addition of the Croat and wouldn’t mind letting Pogba join the Camp Nou outfit in return.

#1 Harry Maguire

Man United want him

Former Leicester City captain Matt Elliott is of the opinion that his former club won’t let go of Harry Maguire on deadline day as the owners of the club are determined to keep hold of their prized asset.

“I think Harry Maguire will still be a Leicester player tomorrow,” he said.

“I know the Leicester owners reasonably well and they will be determined to keep a player of his stature unless a ridiculous offer comes in.”

He, however, added that a big in region of €111 million could tempt the Foxes to sell him.

“To get Maguire, Manchester United will have to pay well over the odds, something in the region of £100m.”