The Christmas holidays seem to have come early at The Mill given the tardiness of today’s tattle, but there’s no sign of such inactivity at Manchester United, where suits are busy trying to tie up a deal for the in-demand Red Bull Salzburg and Norway striker Erling Braut Haaland. The 19-year-old would cost United £76m – although Salzburg’s caffeine-laced sister club Red Bull Leipzig have an arrangement that would allow them to pinch the goal guzzler for a paltry £20m. However another whippersnapper has turned his nose up at a January move to United, with Barcelona’s 15-year-old left-back Juan Larios set to join Manchester City when he turns 16 next month. If ever there was a player who knows his own worth it’s Big Zlat, and he’s demanding double that amount. The former Newcastle and Liverpool manager, who is in charge of the Chinese side Dalian Yifang, has spoken of his desire to return to England to be 5,000-odd miles closer to his family.

Source: The Guardian December 18, 2019 10:25 UTC