Fabrizio Romano has discussed some of the transfer rumours we saw in the summer involving Manchester United and Newcastle as they prepare to play each other in the Premier League this afternoon.
The Red Devils host the Magpies at Old Trafford at 2pm, but could some of the players in Erik ten Hag’s squad have been lining up for Eddie Howe’s men today?
According to Romano in his latest exclusive column for CaughtOffside, there wasn’t really anything more than speculation on the likes of Scott McTominay and Donny van de Beek, who ended up staying at Man Utd, while Jesse Lingard left the club and moved to Nottingham Forest rather than to Newcastle.
“Manchester United take on Newcastle today, and I thought I’d take this opportunity to put some rumours from the summer to bed,” Romano explained.
“It’s not true that any United players were close to joining Newcastle in the summer. Scott McTominay was never available on the market, Donny van de Beek was never in talks with Newcastle, and also Jesse Lingard was linked to many clubs but there was nothing serious with NUFC before he decided to move to Nottingham Forest.
Newcastle would probably have done well to bring in proven players like McTominay and Van de Beek, but they instead turned their focus elsewhere with big-name signings like Alexander Isak and Sven Botman coming in this summer.