Jack not back yet
JACK GREALISH is still out in the cold at Aston Villa.
The 20-year-old returned to training yesterday to find hardline boss Remi Garde is still making him pay for his party antics.
Grealish was told to train with the under-21 players and looks unlikely to feature in this weekend’s squad for the trip to Southampton.
While that prospect hasn’t been completely ruled out, it is understood Garde is determined to make a point.
He was furious after pictures of Grealish partying in Manchester emerged just hours after the 4-0 drubbing at Everton.
He is understood to have been to another party in Birmingham the following day and Garde believes he’s breached his trust.
Grealish was dumped from the squad for the home defeat by Watford and made him train all last week with the kids.
Garde is worried Grealish’s antics are giving the wrong impression at a time when fans’ patience is being stretched to the limit by Villa’s dismal form.
Real Madrid have also targeted Aubameyang and view him as a possible replacement for troubled star Karim Benzema, who is facing blackmail charges in France.
Van Gaal is desperate to add some firepower and attacking threat to his lacklustre side. He has the spending power to compete with Real and is willing to make Aubameyang one of the highest-paid players at Old Trafford. Aubameyang, who is Gabon’s record goalscorer with 19 in 45 games, signed a new deal at Dortmund last summer that runs until 2020. But Dortmund bosses have been powerless in the past to stop some of their biggest stars from leaving and face a similar situation with Aubameyang. Aubameyang has hit 48 goals in 80 games for Dortmund, and has even outscored the prolific Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski this season. He struck two hat-tricks inside a week in October.
Van Gaal is coming under increasing pressure to make some big-name signings at United in a bid to turn them into champions again.
United have struggled to score goals this season and the Dutchman’s tactics have been labelled boring by critics and supporters.
His chances of signing Neymar appear slim to non-existent after the player’s father revealed he will be signing a new Barcelona deal.
He told Barca fans: “Stay calm, I’m sure Neymar will renew. There is no hurry because he still has three years on his contract.”