Calling True or False on 3 Recent Manchester United Transfer Rumours

Much like Christmas seems to come around sooner every year, so the gap between transfer windows seems to get shorter for Manchester United—at least in terms of the rumours.

Six weeks out from the close of the last transfer window and with two-and-a-half months to go before January rolls around, the rumour mill is grinding out stories. Let's take a look at three of them and try to make an educated guess about whether they are true or false.

Given the number of players United were linked to in the summer compared with who arrived, the odds lean towards the latter.

Ander Herrera to Barcelona

Charli Casey of talkSPORT cites "reports overseas" suggesting Ander Herrera is a target for Barcelona. 

If Louis van Gaal's baffling, and frankly upsetting, underuse of the brilliant Basque continues, then for the player's sake he will have to look elsewhere. It is probably as high a compliment as a player in Herrera's position could receive, but the Catalan giants seem a natural fit for him.

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He has spoken of his admiration for Andres Iniesta on multiple occasions, including in an interview for the club's website with Mark Froggatt in July 2014.

Hopefully there is nothing in this rumour and Herrera will weather the storm of the Van Gaal era to be a vital cog in the side for whoever manages the team next.

If Herrera leaves because Barcelona really are interested, then that would be an understandable move. If he leaves United because he is unsure about his place at Old Trafford, then Van Gaal will have made a huge—borderline negligent—mistake.

For now, with United's squad relatively thin, losing a player of Herrera's quality in the January transfer window seems unlikely although not impossible, given that Barcelona will be able to register players again. Nonetheless, the balance of probability seems to lean toward him remaining at United. 

Verdict: False

Marcos Rojo to leave, Bruno Martins Indi to arrive

Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News reports that Marcos Rojo's relationship with Van Gaal "is understood to have broken down over a string of issues and the United manager has identified Dutchman [Bruno] Martins Indi as Rojo's ideal replacement." 

That Van Gaal has fallen out with another player is, of course, a believable narrative at this point. Rojo has not been integrated into the team so far this season, having taken a while to get back to match fitness and then suffered from a minor injury.

So that part of the deal is believable. As for Martins Indi, well, plenty of the 2014 Netherlands World Cup squad have been linked with United since Van Gaal's arrival. So far only Daley Blind and Memphis Depay have been signed.

Martins Indi fits the bill as a Rojo replacement—as Luckhurst points out, he is left-footed and can cover at left-back. 

It seems a little odd that Van Gaal would not have pursued Martins Indi over Rojo during his first transfer window if he saw him as a fit for United. However, the two men got along well in the Netherlands national side.

Ultimately, this one has too many moving parts to be nailed on as accurate. Rojo leaving would not come as a surprise, but there would perhaps be a wider series of replacements to consider than just Martins Indi.

Verdict: False

Sadio Mane Move Back On

Adam Skinner of the Daily Express reports Van Gaal has "instructed the Old Trafford board to sign Saints star [Sadio] Mane due to Memphis Depay's recent struggles."

While the reasoning seems unlikely—Memphis' signing is surely one for the long term—Mane's form of late certainly makes sense of the notion that, per Skinner again, “United launched a bid” for Mane in the summer.

Some additional firepower would be welcome in United's ranks, not so much to compensate for Memphis' slow start, but to lessen the burden on Anthony Martial.

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However, will Southampton be prepared to sell a bona fide star of their side in January? Presumably they would try to persuade the player to hang on until the summer if he is planning to leave. In the case of Morgan Schneiderlin, they stood firm and insisted he stayed at St Mary's for a further season after his attempted move away.

Sadly for United, Southampton's prior willingness to play hardball makes this one seem a long shot.

Verdict: False