Manchester United are exploring the possibility of a move for Crystal Palace’s £65million-rated centre back Marc Guehi, Confidential understands.
Guehi is seen as an alternative target for the left side of central defence to Jarrad Branthwaite if United cannot tempt Everton to sell with an offer in the region of £55m.
They have been interested in Guehi since last summer, and have continued to monitor the 23-year-old England defender’s situation at Palace. United still maintain a strong interest in Branthwaite but want to keep their options open if Everton play hardball over the fee.
They are expected to sign two centre backs this summer with Jean-Clair Todibo, of Nice, and Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo two potential targets on the right side of defence. Todibo would cost around £40m while Adarabioyo is available on a free transfer and attracting interest from Newcastle.
United’s budget this summer is little more than £35m in cash, but new co-owners Ineos expect to raise substantially more by selling off some of their stars and are also prepared to offer player swaps.
Manchester United are exploring the possibility of bringing Marc Guehi to Old Trafford this summer
The Red Devils are also interested in signing Tosin Adarabioyo on a free although they will face competition from Newcastle
Benjamin Sesko is still of interest, although a defensive midfielder will be the next focus once central defence is reinforced
Ineos will also look to structure deals rather than make one-off payments, as United did when signing Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Palace in 2019 for £45m plus an additional £5m in bonuses.
United are also interested in Palace forward Michael Olise – another Newcastle target – and RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, but a defensive midfielder will be the next priority once they have strengthened in central defence.
Garnacho eyes new deal
Alejandro Garnacho is one of the first names on the United team sheet these days, and Confidential understands that the Argentina winger may well look for a new contract if he features prominently at the Copa America in the US this summer.
Garnacho only signed his first big deal in April last year, committing to United until June 2028.
But no outfield player has more than his 49 appearances (Diogo Dalot is level and Bruno Fernandes one behind on 48), with Garnacho currently on a run of 37 consecutive starts.
He has become a mainstay on the left flank for United while Marcus Rashford, Antony and Amad Diallo compete for a place on the right.
If Garnacho can cement a place with Argentina this summer as solidly as he has done at United, don’t be surprised if his representatives are knocking on the door for improved terms.
Alejandro Garnacho is eyeing a new deal at United after becoming a mainstay of the side
FA in Cup Final warning to fans
The FA have vowed to crack down on any bad behaviour by United and City fans at Saturday’s all-Manchester Cup Final at Wembley.
Both clubs are expected to bring around 36,000 supporters to the game, and they have been warned that Wembley will adopt ‘a zero-tolerance approach to any form of illegal, anti-social, discriminatory and offensive conduct, including chanting about football-related tragedies’.
When the two clubs met in the Cup Final last season, a United fan was arrested for wearing a sick T-shirt mocking the Hillsborough tragedy, and later banned from attending all regulated football games in the UK for four years.
Police made a total of 51 arrests across the two FA Cup semi-finals last month when City beat Chelsea and United overcame Coventry on penalties. Almost half of the arrests were linked to pyrotechnics, tailgating and hate crimes, including two individuals arrested for tragedy chanting and homophobic abuse.
Metropolitan Police superintendent Gerry Parker, who will be match commander on Saturday, said: ‘Our stance has been robust throughout the season, there is no tolerance for drug use, assaults or hate crimes.’
Wembley will also host the Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid a week later, and a number of additional measures have been put in place ahead of both games.
As well as more than a thousand police on duty, there will be more stewards, additional ticket checks, improved fencing, new security lanes and increased enforcement of the Public Space Protection Order which prohibits the consumption of alcohol around the stadium on event days.
Manchester United fan James White, 33, laughed in court after being given a four-year ban from attending football matches after wearing a vile shirt mocking the Hillsborough disaster
He was arrested after being pictured at Wembley for his side’s FA Cup final against Man City
Beer we go
Despite the booze ban imposed around Wembley by Brent Council, United and City fans won’t have any problems getting a drink at the Cup Final.
As well as the many bars and restaurants around the stadium, alcohol will be served in the fan zones. United’s designated zone is located on the east concourse area of the stadium, and City’s on the west side of the stadium in Arena Square outside Wembley Arena. They will be open from 11am and stop serving alcohol an hour before kick-off at 2pm.
On level one of the stadium, the new Tap Bar enables fans to tap their card on entry and pick up what they want, without the need to queue or pay at a dedicated checkout.
Away the lads!
United are officially the away team in Saturday’s Cup Final, as they were when losing 2-1 to City at Wembley a year ago.
As well as using the away dressing-room, it means United will again have a slight change of kit and wear black shorts with their red shirts and black socks.
United fans will again occupy the east side of Wembley, as they did in last season’s final and this season’s semi-final win over Coventry City on penalties.
Manchester United will be in the away dressing room at Wembley and wear a changed strip of red shirt, black shorts and red socks
United move for Mpofu
United are looking at the long-term future by signing Scotland Under-15s forward Camron Mpofu from Reading in time for him to join the academy next season.
Though born in Scotland, Mpofu moved south with his family and went to school in Berkshire, joining Reading in 2021 after a successful six-week trial. He has been tracked by a number of clubs after excelling in youth football, and Scotland called him into their Under-15s squad for games against Spain and Hong Kong in Murcia three weeks ago.
Mpofu’s family are expected to relocate with their son to the north-west with United hoping they have a future star on their hands.
Red Army want to vote out VAR
The group behind the atmosphere section at Old Trafford have urged United to vote in favour of scrapping VAR from next season.
Premier League clubs will decide whether or not to keep the technology at a crunch summit next month. It is thought VAR will remain but with some improvements following several controversial incidents this season.
But The Red Army has implored United to vote yes to axing it altogether, and urged supporters to pressure the club into making a decision they claim could prevent long-standing fans from ‘walking away’ from the game by responding to their new survey. TRA said they would ‘ensure that your voice is heard at the very highest level’ of the club.
The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust has also launched a survey to gauge fans’ views on VAR, but unlike TRA it does not call on respondents to take a particular stance.
The Red Army has implored United to vote yes to axing VAR altogether and urged fans to pressure the club into making a decision they claim can prevent supporters from walking away
Ticket sales soar
This may rank as United’s worst-ever Premier League campaign after victory at Brighton on the final day failed to avert an eighth-place finish – one spot lower than the season David Moyes replaced Sir Alex Ferguson.
But it appears as though the dip hasn’t dampened the mood among match-going fans. Season tickets and the executive club have sold out in the quickest time ever, and there has also been the second lowest churn of season tickets with less than four per cent changing hands. There are currently 50,000 season-ticket holders inside Old Trafford with a waiting list that stretches to 150,000.
United have already confirmed that next season the executive seating in the heart of the Stretford End will be replaced by standard season tickets, and a further 1,300 safe standing seats will be added in the north-west corner. This will mean that more than 10 per cent of the general admission capacity and all four corners of Old Trafford will have safe standing areas.
Irwin’s boy takes aim at Gunners
As Arsenal fans came to terms with missing out on the Premier League title at the weekend, the last thing they needed was to be kicked when they were down.
But after they gloated following victory at Old Trafford recently, the son of United great Denis Irwin couldn’t resist poking fun at the Gunners’ misery.
In a social media post that has racked up more than 1.3million views, Denis’ son Liam posted a picture of his dad lifting the Premier League title with the caption: ‘Arsenal couldn’t win it, this man won 7. You forever make me proud, Dad.’
There’s levels to the game – and Irwin’s son wasn’t the only United fan to point that out on Sunday.
Ten Hag’s full house
Victory at the Amex Stadium on Sunday not only gave Erik ten Hag a boost going into the Cup Final, it also meant the United boss has beaten all 22 opponents he has faced in the Premier League.
Brighton were the only remaining team on Ten Hag’s list after losing his first game as United boss to the Seagulls at Old Trafford and two more meetings after that – although United did beat Brighton on penalties in the FA Cup semi-final last season after a goalless draw at Wembley.
The Dutchman managed it at the fourth time of asking as second-half goals from Diogo Dalot and Rasmus Hojlund gave United a 2-0 win that denied Brighton a fifth straight league victory and meant that Ten Hag’s side avoided finishing with United’s lowest points total in the Premier League era.
Erik ten Hag has now beaten all 22 teams that he has faced in the Premier League as Man United boss
Old Trafford tops the lot
It certainly has its faults (the leaky roof being one of them) but a new study has declared Old Trafford the world’s most popular UK football stadium.
A study by Betmaster – which used seven criteria to determine which UK football stadium should be crowned the most popular worldwide – revealed that Old Trafford enjoys the highest global monthly Google searches, coming in at 485,000, more than double the average of UK stadiums, which ranked at 182,000.
Old Trafford, which has edged out Wembley Stadium to top spot, has had more than 2.1billion views on TikTok and has the second-highest number of Tripadvisor reviews at more than 6,600.
Yes, there is major repairs that need to be made to it, but Old Trafford continues to remain a must-visit destination for football fans across the globe.