Manchester United’s summer transfer business seemed to fizzle out after the signing of Victor Lindelof almost a fortnight ago, but looking back to last summer, the same thing happened after the early signing of Eric Bailly from Villarreal – the next signing being Zlatan Ibrahimovic which was announced on the 1st July last year, closely followed with that of Henrikh Mkhitaryan then Paul Pogba around a month later, completing United business last summer. The rumours are rife right now with almost every player under the sun being linked to the Old Trafford club, some have legs, others seem to be rumours which emerge from unreliable sources, grow legs and then fizzle out themselves.

The future of Real Madrid’s Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez seems to be up in the air right now with the player linked to many clubs but reports suggest Manchester United is the club he wants to sign for. Whilst it is great that a player wants to sign for United, there needs to be a mutual interest with that club wanting the player. Some have said United want Rodriguez, other say they don’t, which leaves a 50/50 chance that the club will sign the player. The Sun, not the most reliable of sources, currently reports that United have agreed on personal terms with the Colombian, who has fallen out of favour with los blancos, despite helping his side win La Liga and retain the UEFA Champions League trophy for the first time since the rebranding of the competition.

The reports The Sun carry come from Spanish sources, not Don Balon but Diario Gol. There is a catch though, that being the £61 million fee Real Madrid want for the player, which does seem a bit much for a player who is not in the plans of manager Zinedine Zidane for the coming season, which may end up with United, or even another club agreeing on a lower price for the player with the Santiago Bernabeu club looking to bring in the money to but AS Monaco’s French forward Kylian Mbappe with Liverpool and Arsenal currently interested in signing the player this summer. The 25-year-old Colombian would be a good signing but only if he was to overcome the various issues he has been involved in during his time in Spain.

Rodriguez made only 13 starts in the La Liga last season, struggling to impress Zidane that he was worthy of a place in the squad next season. The latest reports suggest that Rodriguez is closer to a departure from the Bernabeu possibly in a bid to reignite his career at the Old Trafford club, which may be a great fit for him with United looking for more creativity and goals this coming season, which will be needed if Jose Mourinho’s team is to take on the likes of Chelsea for the Premier League title, something the supporters and the club’s hierarchy will be expecting. United finished in sixth place last season, missing out on a UEFA Champions League place in the league, winning the UEFA Europa League to put themselves into the group stages of the competition.

Real Madrid were originally looking for £70 million for Rodriguez this summer, which now seems to have dropped to £61 million, but with all due respect to the player, he’s not exactly shown that he is worthy of that fee this summer with his inability to break into the squad for the majority of the season, so both United, if they are really interested and Real Madrid may need to hold talks to agree on a fee for the player. Time is starting to move on with pre-season a fortnight away, at least with United jetting off to the United States of America to start their pre-season tour, in which they will face the Madrid side in one of two matches before the start of the new season; the other match being the UEFA Super Cup in Macedonia on the 8th August 2017.

Manchester United have been handed a ‘massive boost’ in the race to sign Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez according to The Sun. In my mind, with the reports earlier in the summer that United were not interested in Rodriguez, it just allows the newspapers such as The Sun to peddle a false story again, gaining hundreds of thousands of page views to their website. There seem to be some facts to the story though with the Colombian rejecting a move to Serie A side AC Milan having a £52.9million (€60m) bid accepted by Real Madrid, only for the player to turn down such a transfer. This comes only days after the club’s president Florentino Perez confirmed that no bids had been received for any of their players, which could have been a lie or the truth.

For weeks now we have seen reports that Rodriguez would prefer a move to the Old Trafford club over any other club this summer, which is all well and good but if there is no interest from that club, which is something conveyed by the media over the last month or so, that dream is just not going to happen. Jose Mourinho’s side were interested in signing Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann earlier in the summer but as the club’s transfer ban was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, United decided that they needed a player to take over from Zlatan Ibrahimovic who was released at the end of the season but is still currently at the club overcoming his knee injury sustained in April.

Rodriguez is a number ten type player and whilst he may improve United’s options this summer, a number ten was listed as one of the reasons the club decided to cool their interest with Griezmann, suggesting a number nine was more important for the club at this time, hence the links to Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata. Rodriguez was once one of the hottest properties in world football, shining at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, then signing for Real Madrid from AS Monaco and seemingly struggling for game time. That was not the only thing that hampered the player with his attitude said to be an issue, which would not be something United would want at the club, seeking to iron out all the problems which have reared after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Rodriguez scored 11 goals last season, also assisting a further 11 goals which is a good result, especially from the midfield, something which could help United score more goals in the Premier League and beyond, but the suggestion to be made that United were not interested in Rodriguez, they must have other targets who Jose Mourinho feels will improve his side more than the Colombian. Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan, a club needing to sell before they can buy in order to fulfil Financial Fair Play regulations are said to no longer be interested in the player. Don Balon, one of those ‘unreliable’ news sites in Spain suggested AC Milan’s bid was accepted by Real Madrid but the move rejected by the player, which could be something or nothing.

The report in Spain also said that Manchester United retained an interest in the player but had not yet submitted an offer for the player, which would have to be in the region of €60 million in order to be accepted such as the apparent bid from AC Milan. Based on the sources of this story, I don’t feel that there is much here other than speculation. The Sun have been known to make some reported more exciting, especially during this time of the year where there will be many reports linking players to club especially Manchester United as it attracts so much attention. Perhaps United are interested in the player but do not see him as the main target this summer, seemingly trying to get that transfer in the bag.

The likelihood is that business will commence soon with United already signing Swedish defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica and other positions left to strengthen before players are allowed to leave the Theatre of Dreams, whether permanently or on a loan spell for part of or the entirety of the 2017/18 season.