A rather long, complex and boring story behind this one, so here's the shortened version.

On the 2nd January, a 'sports lawyer' working in Manchester claimed that we'd be making two superstar signings fairly imminently for around £12M (these claims appeared on a popular United forum) and that he was working on the endorsement/image rights side of the contracts, having previously worked on Ballack's and Shevchenko's transfer to Chelsea.

Since then, he provided 'updates' from time to time regarding their identity, eventually naming them today; Barcelona's Xavier Hernandez (Xavi to most), and Bordeaux's Rio Antonio Mavuba.

Oddly enough, the story gathered momentum today too (I suspect not from the claims made by him - as the place is littered with wind-ups) with Mavuba's agent claiming that we're in for him, and Barcelona denying any ties between United and Xavi.

The 'lawyer' claims that there will be a press conference tomorrow afternoon at 3PM confirming these signings, both on four year deals.

Now, I'd not believed the story for a second until today, when Sky Sports picked up on such. If these do come off (I must stress that I'm not hopeful whatsoever), we're looking at one hot prospect and another genuine footballing genius.

Make of that what you will.

 

You're right, boring

 

I always enjoy your rumours G

Lets wait and see, no complaints about Xavi

 

ITSONP

 

You were warned.

To be honest, I'm not sure why Barca would let go of Xavi, unless they had someone coming in themselves. He's not played a vast deal this season, but is obviously still a big part of their team and a great talent (his free-kick at the weekend was a beauty).

I suspect Mavuba is the more likely of the two, but I doubt anything will be confirmed today. The press would usually swarm over something like this, but then again, it was very hush hush prior to the announcement of Larsson's loan deal.

No idea what that stands for, but I guess something along the lines of "what a load of sh*t" - you're probably right.

 

In The Shirt On The Pitch

ie believe it when I see it. All the specualtion this time of the year is pointless until something happens. Only serves to sell papers

 

^

Ditto!

 

Larsson till May for 1.2m...

 

I agree, of course.

But to be fair, none of this has appeared in the English press...yet. The interest in Xavi was only mooted in the Catalan Daily Sport after the 'lawyer' named him (he gave clues from day one - i.e. one Spanish and one French, have represented their country, currently both with Adidas, etc.) and in the case of Mavuba, the statement from his agent was a surprise to some.

Both bits of speculation now appear on the official web site too:

Mavuba
Reds linked with French star

Xavi
Transfer Rumours: Jan 07 - United are linked with a shock move for Barcelona star Xavi.

Again, I'm not convinced whatsoever, but the stories are now gaining a little exposure, if nothing else.