Manchester United: Reading Between the Lines in the Lucas Moura Transfer Saga

I, like many others who have followed the twisting, turning transfer saga that has captured the attention and divided the opinion of Manchester United fans across the world, feel worn out.

A significant part of me wants to close my eyes and wake up on August 20 just to see what team Sir Alex Ferguson deploys to face Everton at Goodison Park for United's first Premier League game.

I'll look for Leighton Baines at left-back, check to see if Robin van Persie heads the attack, and most importantly, scan the field for the 19-year-old Lucas Moura.

But unfortunately for me, this is complete fantasy.

If today's headlines are anything to go by, Lucas Moura will not be heading to Old Trafford this Summer.

Sorry, United fans.

You can forget about refreshing manutd.com every 20 minutes, forget about cycling through your deep reserves of websites in desperate need for a fix on the latest scrap of news—the deal's off.

Or at least, that's how it seems.

"Manchester United made an offer, which was rejected and they won't make another one as they have reached their limit," were Lucas' agent Wagner Ribeiro's exact words in an interview with UOL yesterday (h/t ESPN).

Now whilst I don't doubt Ribeiro's involvement in the transfer negotiations for Lucas, for him to make such a sweeping assumption about Sir Alex's intentions is rather bemusing.

Especially considering that the United boss expressed an interest in acquiring the player only yesterday (via The Mirror).

But reading between the lines, it may not be so bemusing.

At the end of the month, 10 percent of the player's ownership and image rights will transfer from Sao Paulo to the player and his representatives—an impending transaction that hardly motivates Ribeiro to conclude a deal as quickly as possible.

Indeed, Brazilian publication Lance yesterday reported that Manchester United are preparing a "take it or leave it" bid for Lucas in the region of £32 million (via manutd.com)—a report that seems to have been hastily brushed under the carpet in the wake of Ribeiro's comments.

But whatever happens, until Sir Alex himself declares the deal dead-in-the-water, United fans will keep the faith—and keep refreshing.

Until they, like me, feel completely worn out.