This transfer saga has gone on for so long that Man United have almost left themselves over a barrel.
The fans are expecting a big name signing, the negotiations have been going on for so long that it’s clear United do want to sign the player, while results on the pitch have been poor and Sporting know they can use all of this to gradually nudge the price up.
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The fans might point to this as being the latest example of Ed Woodward being completely incapable of making a transfer without dragging everything out, but it’s almost become an irritation with how long this has gone on for.
Admittedly this has been hinted at before, but it does now sound like a deal could be close.
The Sun reported on the latest developments and it sounds like the main hold up was the actual transfer fee. The two clubs were too far apart on their valuations, but it now sounds like a compromise will be found.
It seems like a fee of around £47m plus add ons should be enough to temp Sporting into selling their star man, and hopefully the deal will move quickly after this.
He seems like exactly the type of player that United are crying out for, but the board have done him no favours by dragging this out so long that the pressure on him will be increased from the start.