Five days ago, Portuguese newspaper O Jogo reported Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona are all following Álvaro Carreras with a view to a potential move for the Benfica player.
It was explained that Manchester United have the advantage of a buyback clause for the left-back, having secured that when negotiating his move to the Lisbon club.
Monday’s edition of Record, another Portuguese newspaper, reported the buyback figure is €20m, and his general buyout clause is €50m.
Record return on Tuesday with a headline stating Álvaro Carreras would prefer Real Madrid to Manchester United.
The newspaper state they’ve been able to find out the 21-year-old ‘prefers the meringues’. This is considered a better scenario for Benfica because the price could go higher, although Manchester United are still due a percentage of any profit.
Benfica are said to be referring to Álvaro Carreras’ €50m to any clubs interested, such as Real Madrid.
In reality, Los Blancos simply aren’t paying that and their interest itself is highly questionable. Whilst the youngster has done pretty well this season, he struggled during the last campaign and is a long way from being a Real Madrid player.
The hype has got a little over the top, and the player himself needs to revert to doing some consistent talking on the pitch.
Should every time he has a good few games there’s temptation to encourage Real Madrid and Barcelona rumours then he needs to find a consistent level far higher than he has so far, if only to be worth the drama for Manchester United.
