POGBA SCENARIO
United set to re-sign Keane for RM137.5m — two years after selling him on the cheap
LONDON
MANCHESTER United are set to re-sign Michael Keane from Burnley in a £25 million (RM137.5 million) deal this summer.
It’s understood that United have emerged as clear favourites to take the 24-year-old England centre-back back to Old Trafford.
Keane has developed into one of the Premier League’s most highly-rated defenders since leaving United to join Burnley for LONDON: Everton will look to command a £50 million (RM275 million) fee for Ross Barkley with the increasing likelihood he will leave this summer.
Ronald Koeman, Everton’s manager, issued an ultimatum last week when he stressed that Barkley would have to be sold if he did not sign a new contract. He imposed a deadline for that to happen before the end of the season.
Discussions with the England international have gone on for most of the campaign, right through to last week, but there £2 million in January 2015.
United included a clause in the deal entitling them to 25 per cent of any sell-on fee, so they will have to pay less for Keane than any of their rivals.
Keane, who has continued to live in Manchester and is a boyhood United fan, can expect to quadruple his £25,000-a-week wages if he returns to a club that he first joined at the age of 11.
Louis van Gaal allowed him to go to Burnley on loan before sanctioning a permanent move to Turf Moor.
However, Jose Mourinho has has been no sign of a resolution and nor is one expected before that deadline passes.
Barkley has 12 months remaining on his current terms and if he was to stay but leave on a free transfer at the end of that contract, Everton would not be entitled to any compensation as he would be 24.
It means Everton will have no choice but to listen to offers for the academy graduate, with Tottenham and Arsenal both monitoring the situation.
The fee Everton would attempt to generate is the one that identified Keane among several players that should have been retained by his predecessor, and has made him one of his top summer targets alongside Romelu Lukaku and Antoine Griezmann.
The move is bound to raise questions after United paid a world record £89 million last summer to sign Paul Pogba, four years after selling him to Juventus for £800,000.
But it’s understood there are no qualms among the Old Trafford hierarchy about re-signing Keane who made his England debut against Germany in March. Manchester City were quoted in June 2014 when they first enquired about Barkley.
Koeman has no intention of letting the situation turn into a saga and has already been looking at goalscoring midfielders who could come in.
Gylfi Sigurdsson, the Iceland international, is a priority. Koeman is a huge admirer of the £25 million-rated Swansea’s playmaker and attempted to sign him when he first arrived at Goodison Park 12 months ago. He will return this summer.
Davy Klaassen, Ajax’s captain,
Keane is said to be desperate for a return to his boyhood club. The player and his advisors are seeking assurances that he will play in excess of 30 games a season, but that is unlikely to be a sticking point.
Chris Smalling could be the odd man out at United as Mourinho creates space in central defence.
Smalling has grown disillusioned at United this season after being singled out in public on several occasions by his manager for not making more of an effort to play when he was injured. Daily Mail is also firmly on Koeman’s radar, with the player having indicated he wants to play in the Premier League.
But Everton intend to be ambitious when the window opens and the Arsenal pair of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott are options being considered.
Oxlade-Chamberlain remains undecided about his future; like Barkley, he has 12 months remaining on his terms with Arsenal but is also attracted to the idea of working with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. Daily Mail