Manchester United Transfer News: Latest Marquinhos, Victor Valdes Rumours

Manchester United and Chelsea transfer target Marquinhos is reportedly "unhappy" with his amount of playing time with Paris Saint-Germain, prompting the attention of the two Premier League giants ahead of the January transfer window.

That's according to French newspaper L'Equipe (h/t Daily Express' David Wright), who claim Chelsea had an offer for the Brazil international rejected last summer. They also shared comments from Alex, a former team-mate who has urged him to leave the French capital to continue his development:

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The news will likely come as a boost to Premier League suitors Chelsea and Manchester United. The former had a £30.6million bid for his services turned down by PSG in the summer, while the latter were linked with a move throughout last season.

Former PSG team-mate Alex last week urged Marquinhos to leave the French capital in search of first-team football. He said: "Marquinhos would fit in at any big European club, his problem is that two of the best players in the world in his position are ahead of him. If I was in his place I would leave PSG – especially when all the big clubs want him."

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Marquinhos was stuck behind the duo of Thiago Silva and David Luiz at the start of the season, although he has started PSG's last four Ligue 1 matches per WhoScored.com. Last season, he was frequently used as a right-back, with his two compatriots forming arguably the best defensive duo in Ligue 1.

The 21-year-old is widely seen as one of the best young defenders on the planet, and should he become available, there's no doubt there will be a long line of potential suitors.

It's difficult to see where this report comes from, however. As stated before, Marquinhos has started PSG's last four matches, playing alongside Luiz and Silva at various times. He was a regular starter last season, and while Serge Aurier seems to have a stranglehold on the right-back position, all signs point to the three Brazilians rotating in the centre in 2015-16.

To all intents and purposes, Marquinhos is a regular starter, just like he was last year. And with Les Parisiens appearing in several domestic competitions and the UEFA Champions League, there will be plenty of minutes to go around as the season goes on.

PSG paid Roma £27 million for his services back in 2013, per BBC Sport, a huge amount of money for a relatively unproven defender. So even if the centre-back forced the French outfit's hand and handed in a transfer request, it would take a gargantuan fee to bring him to the Premier League.

Liverpool Want Victor Valdes?

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Meanwhile, former Barcelona star Victor Valdes suddenly finds himself in the transfer-rumour headlines, as just days after Sport linked him with a move to Chelsea, the Sun (h/t Daily Mirror's Aaron Flanagan) now believe he's being eyed by Liverpool.

Current starter Simon Mignolet hasn't had the greatest start to the 2015-16 season, highlighted by a costly error that led to Norwich City's equaliser in Week 6 of the Premier League campaign, and according to Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail, the club have started looking at potential transfer targets.

Looking at this statistics from WhoScored, the Belgian may feel as if the Reds are ungrateful if this turns out to be true:

Valdes hasn't played a minute of football in 2015-16, which hasn't come as a huge surprise, as the club did its very best to make it clear the Spaniard was no longer welcome during the summer. The Manchester Evening News' Samuel Luckhurst shared some of the steps they took:

Would the Reds really be interested in Valdes? No one really knows what the veteran still has to offer, as he hasn't played a meaningful match of football in some time. He was once regarded as one of the world's best 'keepers, but that was several years and one devastating knee injury that ended his Barcelona career ago.

Deals between rivals Liverpool and United are rare, although manager Louis van Gaal would likely be happy to just get rid of Valdes, regardless of the destination. But there will be other suitors in January as well, and a move abroad makes more sense for Valdes, who isn't an obvious upgrade over Mignolet at this stage of his career.

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