After the scintillating start to the season, Manchester United are flying high. Well, high-ish, in fourth, with the indignity of a sixth-place finish last season fading as quickly as Bobby Charlton’s hairline. Sure, they might be now a couple of points from dropping to 13th, but for now (at least until the Europa League game against Astana on Thursday) the Red Devils are back baby!
Why, you ask? Because Ole Gunnar Solskjær is at the wheel, and he’s buying British! Not just beef and M&S underwear and Aston Martins but Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire too! And so Manchester United are going to continue to hoover up all the best British talent from teams outside the “Big Six”. Solskjær has decided that Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Leicester’s James Maddison are quite good at football, while the dedicated Norwegian also saw Callum Wilson score twice for Bournemouth on MOTD2, so might also try for the striker too. With Newcastle’s Sean Longstaff also on the shopping list, the British bill could be well beyond £200m.
Dries Mertens might be banging them in for Napoli, but that isn’t stopping Carlo Ancelotti looking at the Scottish Premiership for goals. Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard has caught the eye for both his performances with the Bhoys and France Under-21s, with some suggesting the striker could cost up to £30m. Celtic would be keen to sell at that price but are understood to want to try to keep the Edouard until next summer, where he could become the first Celtic player to leave for Italy since Liam Henderson in 2017.
One man on whom Celtic could reinvest funds is Tottenham’s Victor Wanyama, who could be available for a cut-price deal in January. Wanyama has yet to play for Spurs this season but had two excellent seasons in Glasgow before his £12.5m move to Southampton in 2013.
Jürgen Klopp has acted to distance himself from a departure from Liverpool after his Mr 15%, Marc Kosicke, suggested that the German could be tempted to move to a warmer climate. “He wanted to make a joke so now I have to be serious,” Klopp said with a laugh. “It is German humour but obviously nobody got it … let me spell it out, the weather has never been a reason for me to choose a city and it’s certainly not a reason for me to leave the country.”
Finally, Bury’s expulsion from the Football League looks to be West Brom’s gain, with the Championship club set to pick up Saul Shotton on a free transfer. The 18-year-old defender reportedly has turned down offers from Sheffield Wednesday, Preston and Derby and will join Slaven Bilic’s side in the coming days.