Marcos Rojo To Manchester United - Transfer Talk

Is Rojo Set To Become A Roja? It's Wednesday Transfer Talk
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Manchester United's sixth win out of six under Louis van Gaal was, by their manager's own admission, their worst performance yet, and when players like Marouane Fellaini paper over the cracks it is patent your squad needs strengthening. Marcos Rojo is not a midfielder but he will offer Luke Shaw competition on the left-hand side.

Shaw missed United's Tuesday night friendly with Valencia due to injury and was replaced by Reece James, which re-emphasised how "broken" and unbalanced the squad squad is. Rojo has handed in a transfer request at Sporting Lisbon and could join United for £16m, meaning the Reds might spend nearly £50m on two left-backs.

Rojo, 24, enjoyed a stellar World Cup in a surprisingly miserly Argentina defence that defeated Van Gaal's Netherlands en route to their final defeat to Germany.

Rojo scored Argentina's winner against Nigeria at the World Cup

Left-wing back Daley Blind remains another option, while Van Gaal's namedropping of Angel di María earlier in the week suggests United are ready to bid for the Argentinian, frozen out at Real Madrid.

Across town, Manchester City will sell the nondescript Javi García to Zenit St. Petersburg for £13 million after an unmemorable two years.

Silly season arrived with Ross McCormack's £11m move to Fulham and it's continuing with news Southampton are ready to bring Shane Long to St Mary's for £12m. Long's a decent, hardworking striker but he actually struggles to stick the ball in the back of the net.

The Irishman only joined Hull from West Brom in January and the Tigers stand to make a £5m profit on the 27-year-old. Southampton have earned £92m from their exodus and blowing a sizeable portion of it on Long seems counter-productive.

Long only joined Hull in January from West Brom

Southampton are also keen on Parma winger Jonathan Biabiany, who's attracting interest from Everton, too.

Tottenham have been remarkably quiet in the transfer window but the Telegraph claim manager Mauricio Pochettino wants to get rid of up to 11 players, including wingers Aaron Lennon and Andros Townsend.

Another wide man, Wilfried Zaha, could make a return to Crystal Palace on loan from United after the Eagles' co-chairman Steve Parish hinted at a move for the England international.

Arsenal want Kostas, but don't worry Gooners, it's not Mitroglou. Arsène Wenger has targeted Olympiakos defender Kostas Manolas to provide back-up in central defence.

And Colombia international Carlos Sánchez is bound for Birmingham today ahead of completing a £4.5m move to Aston Villa from Elche.

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