Manchester United Transfer News: Latest on Marquinhos and David De Gea Rumours

Manchester United will reportedly jostle with Chelsea this summer in pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain’s excellent young defender Marquinhos, while manager Louis van Gaal has spoken about the future of David De Gea. 

According to Jason Burt of the Daily Telegraph, the Red Devils and the Blues are “are in the market for commanding, ball-playing central defenders,” with United still seeking to replace the void left by former centre-back Rio Ferdinand. Marquinhos, it seems, is a potential option.

Burt noted that PSG value the Brazilian at around £40 million, and while they’ve refused to entertain offers for the player in the past, the French club could potentially move him on in exchange for other players, with their longstanding interest in Memphis Depay noted.

While Marquinhos finds it tough to oust compatriots David Luiz and Thiago Silva from the starting XI at the Parc des Princes, he’s still considered to be among the world’s best young defenders. Here’s why:

The 21-year-old possesses all the attributes to go a long way in the game. Physically he may look a little slender, but Marquinhos has proven to be a player with an appetite for one-on-one battles. Additionally, his snappy distribution, timing of challenges and strength in the air would make him well-suited to the robust nature of English football.

Marquinhos is at an age where he needs to begin playing regular football. As Bleacher Report’s Andrew Gibney noted, it’s peculiar that he’s not on the pitch more often already:

For United, he’d represent a superb capture. While Daley Blind and Chris Smalling have struck up a brilliant relationship at the base of the side, Marquinhos is a player who would make the Red Devils an even more fearsome defensive foe. He could do so for many years to come as well.

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Marquinhos must surely be getting to the point where patience is running out, too. He’s a young footballer who will be craving minutes in order to aid his development. Having featured mainly at right-back for PSG this season, he will want a run in his best position. Marquinhos would get those assurances at Old Trafford, and that would make the club an enticing proposition.

Elsewhere, on Friday Van Gaal discussed the future of goalkeeper De Gea, suggesting he could stay at the club beyond this season.

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The Red Devils are in a battle to secure a spot in the UEFA Champions League at the moment, and if they were to miss out on Europe’s elite competition for the second time in three seasons, there would be concerns about keeping their top players. Van Gaal has dismissed those suggestions, though, and denied De Gea will be off to Real Madrid, per PA Sport (h/t ESPN FC):

"

You have said that he is going to Real Madrid. I have said always that he stays. You remember that?

And now you are asking how long he has to stay? Come on. First you have to say: 'Okay, sorry that I have written that. Sorry.’ Ask him, ask him. Maybe he said something about that. But not to me.

"

Bizarrely, Van Gaal then went on to suggest De Gea was not close to joining Real last summer, despite the club releasing a statement outlining the reasons behind his move collapsing.

"Oh yeah? You think so," was Van Gaal’s response when it was stated the goalkeeper nearly joined Real. "Okay. You have all the evidence of that? You have spoken with Mr [Florentino] Perez and Mr [Ed] Woodward about that matter?"

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As this clip from Manchester United’s Twitter feed illustrates, the Spanish international is in wonderful form at the moment:

While the comments about the summer move from Van Gaal are odd, it’s clear he thinks De Gea will be a United player next season. Nevertheless, if Real were interested in him last summer, it would be no surprise if they were to come calling again in this upcoming window, a little earlier than last time perhaps.

There’s little United can point to in order to keep De Gea at the club in the face of Madrid’s interest. As a native of the Spanish capital, the chance to play games at the Santiago Bernabeu is something that will surely appeal to the ‘keeper. The Red Devils, at the moment, have a long way to go before they’re back at a similar standard.