Football transfer rumours: Gareth Bale going to Manchester United?

LONDON. KAZINFORM - Gareth Bale's agent insists "it's not true he wants to return to the Premier League" and that instead "he wants to continue to wear the Real Madrid jersey" and furthermore that "rumours about a swap with Manchester United are absolute rubbish".
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But that's not going to stop the enterprising British press, with Metro insisting Chelsea are "set to make a sensational offer". And the Welshman might not be the only player soon to swap Madrid for London, with the £19m price tag recently placed on the head of Raphaël Varane unlikely to deter either them or potential rival suitors Manchester United, Kazinform refers to the Guardian. United, though, have also been linked with other central defenders, including Atlético Madrid's Miranda, who would cost at least £1m more than Varane, we're told, despite already being the wrong side of 30,Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels, Athletic Bilbao's Aymeric Laporte and caveman-faced Dutchman Ron Vlaar. Talking of the Aston Villa defender, his agent has given the biggest hint yet that he is ready to leave the Midlands by, well, fairly explicitly saying that he wants to. "I don't respond to rumours," he sniffed to the Sun. But, hey, rules are made to be broken, so he continued: "The natural break for Ron is now. It's time to take the next step. He's ambitious. We have not spoken to Aston Villa [but] Ron is in a situation which is not unfavourable. We're in no hurry." In the Mirror Arnold Oosterveer went even further, insisting "it is obvious that for Ron, now is the moment to make a nice big move in his career". Also linked with a Manchester move this morning is Memphis Depay, the Holland winger whose manager at PSV Eindhoven, Phillip Cocu, has admitted that "of course he will be sold". Cocu also says "he can become way better" and "is so explosive", the kind of excited chatter that makes it almost seem like he's got an interest in inflating the player's value. Back to Chelsea, though, and a "Stamford Bridge insider" in no way simply made up by a journalist for the sake of convenience has revealed to the Sun that "Petr Cech has been linked with Real Madrid and PSG but there are also whispers about Manchester United and Liverpool. That's hardly surprising, a keeper of his class doesn't become available very often." The player himself has meanwhile told Czech media that "as a player who has two years left on his contract, I cannot make choices. If the club says ‘you are staying here' then I will be staying. That's why I'm staying." Tottenham still want to sign Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez, and will keep a cool £35m of their transfer budget unspent so they can swoop in the summer (which might be difficult if rumours of a £19.6m offer for Xherdan Shaqiri are to be believed). But the Saints are most worried about their rumoured intention to recruit their head of recruitment, Paul Mitchell. Internazionale want to sign Joel Campbell from Arsenal on loan, with a view to a £7m permanent move if they like each other. Joining him on the first plane from Heathrow to anywhere Italian could be Mauro Zárate, who's in a right huff about goings-on at Upton Park. "At West Ham, Maurito is often used out of position by his coach and this is pushing us to think seriously of changing the team," sobbed his agent, Luis Ruzzi. "He is a striker, a scorer, not a playmaker." Potentially flying the other way is Claudio Marchisio, who has recently appeared on Arsenal's radar. Apparently, and somewhat disappointingly, Juventus won't sell him. In an exclusive extract from his six-month-old autobiography, previously serialised in the Mail, I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here contestant Jimmy Bullard reveals in the Sun that Fabio Capello "looks like Postman Pat" and was so uninspiring "I've had better coaching when I was playing non-league". As for the midfielder's former club Fulham, they would like to bring back Chris Baird, who played 165 times for the Cottagers before leaving last year, moved to West Brom in the summer and has recently been used mainly as an occasional non-playing substitute.

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