[asiancigar]

Obertan deal looks real + The Sun reckons Huntelaar’s next

The entire press corps seem to have latched onto the Obertan story, as expected. The president was quoted as saying he’d be delighted to let him go, and The Sun thinks it is an £8m deal. Going by some accounts, United’s interest in Obertan has surprised circles in France, as he spent half of last season playing for Lorient — a middling Ligue 1 club.

The focus, according to the Sun — who are always ahead of the game [they are capable of reporting news even before an event] — now shifts to Klaas Jan Huntelaar of Real Madrid. We’ve been linked with the Dutchman countless times in the past and we’ve already seen several reports linking us to him this summer. Unsubstantiated rumours — that Milan’s offer was perhaps too low for Madrid — compete with other unsubstantiated rumours — that Meeeeeelan offered to take him on loan.

The Sun maybe a paragon of virtue, but I will believe it when I see it.

If we were to assume, for the purposes of trying to make a point, we sign Huntelaar, then it should ideally leave Ferguson with the central midfield slot to fill with a dynamic defensive midfielder; someone who can dominate and free up Carrick. The breed of the dynamic defensive midfielder is rare though, and quite expensive too. Yaya Toure is a possibility if Mascherano goes to Barcelona, although Toure would be out in January for the African Cup of Nations. Arsenal target and Fiorentina hard-man Felipe Melo, has been bigged up after an impressive showing at the Confederations Cup. He has earned a reputation of collecting a lot of cards. Truthfully, I’d gladly take such a player in the Premiership. He’ll surely concede far fewer fouls here, over the flop-and-dive-heavy Serie A.

Cheerz
AC