Swap deals never happen, right? Well that was the easy way to dismiss swap rumours for a long time, but Alexis Sanchez and Henrik Mkhitaryan have probably put an end to that for the foreseeable future.
El Confidencial reported this week that Jorge Mendes is lining up another huge swap deal for Manchester United, one which would see Cristiano Ronaldo swap clubs with David De Gea.
It’s explained De Gea would get his long held wish to return to Madrid and Ronaldo would get a fresh start away from his current problems.
The same Spanish media outlet have a new look today, saying De Gea is determined not to miss the Real Madrid boat again, and wants the transfer to happen in the summer.
El Confidencial have a really good record on previous Real Madrid transfers and are one of the better sources in Spain but their claims on this are so ridiculous it’s reputation harming.
Yes, we can buy De Gea probably still retains a desire for the move, at whatever level. And yes, it would be no surprise if Mendes was eyeing a deal which would put him back the centre of the market.
But what we can’t swallow is this claim: ‘In 2015, on the last day of the summer transfer market, an operation that was considered closed was frustrated . Real Madrid clung to technology, which failed the mechanisms so that the documentation arrived on time at its destination. The reality is that Florentino Perez backed out at the last moment, when Keylor Navas was ready to fly to Manchester and his colleague to make the reverse trip.’
Sorry, but that is just utter nonsense.
The same Perez who slammed Manchester United just after the failed transfer, blaming their inexperience for not getting the deal over the line, something which Manchester United were then publicly pushed to rebuke?
Perhaps everyone was in on it.
Anyway, back to the idea of a swap. It’s got to be considered unlikely, if only for the practicalities, and that Manchester United may feel they have a more valuable asset in the goalkeeper, given age differences.
Ronaldo turns 33 in February and whilst stories of his demise are, as always, hugely exaggerated (this is a man who has scored 24 goals this season, and 9 in his last 9 games), that’s clearly getting on a bit for a top footballer.
We hope El Confidencial get well soon.
