Manchester United transfer news RECAP with Marcus Rashford contract and takeover latest

So that brings our latest United transfer blog to a conclusion.

Scroll below for news, rumours and updates from Old Trafford.

Rangers are thought to want Jack Butland when the transfer market reopens.

Butland was welcomed to Old Trafford on loan during the January window.

He will return to Crystal Palace where he will become a free agent in the summer.

Reports Football Insider claim Butland, 29 is a top target for the Scottish giants.

United are only five points behind leaders Arsenal at the summit.

But are they still in the Premier League title race this season?

Here are the latest betting odds provided by SkyBet in that ongoing charge.

Manchester City – 10/11

Arsenal – 11/10

Manchester United – 12/1

*Odds were correct at 15:00 on February 20. Subject to change.

United continued their fine form against Leicester on Sunday afternoon.

Here are the next six Premier League matches they have to contend with;

Sunday, March 5 vs Liverpool (A) at 4.30pm

Saturday, March 11 vs Southampton (H) at 3pm

Sunday, March 19 vs Brighton (A) at 2pm

Saturday, April 1 vs Newcastle (A) at 3pm*

Saturday, April 8 vs Everton (H) at 3pm*

Saturday, April 15 vs Nottingham Forest (A) at 3pm*

*Subject to change due to broadcasting schedules.

Borussia Monchengladbach are expected to release Marcus Thuram this summer.

But will a subsequent transfer to the Premier League await for the France attacker?

United hold interest in Harry Kane and Victor Osimhen, while Erik ten Hag is also known to admire Goncalo Ramos. Thuram, 25, could be a bargain option to pursue. Here’s an update from Monchengladbach sporting director Roland Virku;

We have to accept it, there are even bigger clubs where Marcus could go. The fact that the player will leave us without making any money is not a positive situation and I can’t even sweeten the pill that much.

Reports from Calciomercato suggest United have entered the race to sign Marcus Thuram.

However, the Premier League giants face competition from Arsenal and Tottenham.

Thuram, 25, has enjoyed an impressive season for Borussia Monchengladbach with 13 goals and four assists coming from 21 matches in all competitions. He also appeared for France at the winter World Cup in Qatar. Thuram only has a few months left to run on his contract.

United’s defender has claimed that he has not thought about the takeover at Old Trafford.

Two bids have so far been publicly lodged to buy the Reds but Lindelof told PA that his focus is firmly on football.

I haven’t given that a thought, you know, especially now with the schedule. We can’t think about that. We just have to think about the games and preparing the best that we can do. Yeah, I haven’t thought about that. Whatever happens, happens, but we’re just focusing on our performances.

Speaking on his podcast, Neville praised Ten Hag for getting the most out of his United squad.

This manager does seem to have something different at this moment in time. He’s getting a lot more out of the squad than I would expect. I think some of those (previous United) managers had better players and better squads. If you’d said to me that Manchester United a year ago with Ralf Rangnick as manager, would be playing today with Marcus Rashford up front with Wout Weghorst and [Alejandro] Garnacho, I’d be saying: ‘We’re in a bit of trouble here’. If you’d said that [Anthony] Martial would still be holding the line up front, [Victor] Lindelof, [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka, Fred, [Scott] McTominay, all these players, they’re still here. A lot of the same players that populated the last few seasons are still populating this squad (I would be worried), but it does feel like this manager is getting a lot out of them.

Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann has insisted that he is happy at the Championship club despite the possibility he could have signed for the Reds in the summer.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Bachmann revealed:

I’ve always been happy at Watford. I’ve always felt comfortable here. I think this is my sixth season here now, so I’ve been here for a while. I know everything and I know everyone. The thing in the summer, there was an opportunity that came and of course, it was in my head. Of course, there was a possibility that I could go there [to United] but I’m incredibly happy with the way it’s all worked out and I’m still at Watford. For me personally, I’ve really enjoyed this season. I’ve had a fantastic start on a personal level with how I started certainly the first 5/10 games. I feel like I’m in a really good place at the moment and I’m just enjoying my football and I’m enjoying being one of the leaders in the team now and one of the more senior figures. Hopefully, [I] help everyone because we’ve got quite a young team and quite a young squad, so [I want] to help everyone to get to where we want to be.

According to The Sun, United have come up with a plan should De Gea not sign a new contract at Old Trafford.

The shot stopper is out of contract at the end of the season and has yet to sign a new deal.

It is claimed that should he not sign, United would make a bid to sign Leeds’ number one Illan Meslier instead.

According to reports by AS.com, a Premier League club which is presumed to be United were in contact Vlahovic over a January transfer to Old Trafford.

The 23-year-old joined Juventus just over a year ago but has endured an indifferent career in Turin scoring 19 goals in 42 appearances as the Serie A giants struggled.

It is claimed United were ‘directly negotiating’ with the Old Lady and that Real Madrid are interested in a move for the striker this summer as Juve’s situation worsens.

United’s vice captain has backed Weghorst to rediscover his goalscoring form sooner rather than later.

Speaking to MUTV after the Leicester City victory, Fernandes said:

Sometimes it’s like this, you want the ball to go in and it’s a matter of time. As a striker, you always want to score goals but he’s doing his job, doing a lot of runs that we need, the pressure that we need. This is why he’s still playing. It’s a matter of time until he gets his goals. After he gets the first he will open something that will give him more and more goals so he can help the team even more.

According to Stefan Bajcetic’s father Srdan, Liverpool were willing to not sign the former Celta Vigo player when he was 16 until they found out that the Reds were in the running for his signature.

Bajcetic Sr told El Mundo, quoted by Sport Witness:

Celta does not have the financial power to make professional contracts at that age. Sometimes they run away. So that they do not escape, they must be put in the first team and the youngsters are represented. Some scouts from Liverpool saw him and contacted us. But Stefan was still a child, not even 16 years old. He couldn’t go anywhere. At first, Liverpool told us that they couldn’t do it and then United called us, that they could. Liverpool found out and contacted us again to sign him.

According to Football Insider, Ten Hag is willing to listen to offers for his midfielder in the summer.

McTominay has been bumped down the pecking order at Old Trafford since the arrivals of Casemiro, Sabitzer and Eriksen.

The report claims that the Reds would be looking for a fee of £25m though should a team wish to come in for the Scot.

To help provide an extra boost to Erik ten Hag’s troops ahead of the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, we’ve launched a special cheer map, where you can send your message of support to the United team.

Click this link and fill in the widget to show your support for the Reds and join the cheer map.

According to Football Insider, United are willing to listen to offers for midfielder Scott McTominay this summer.

The report claims that the Reds believe they can sell the 26-year-old for £25million due to his experience in the Premier League.

McTominay has made 195 appearances for the club during his time at Old Trafford, registering 18 goals and five assists.

There would probably be a lot more appreciation for him if he were only utilised in a sporadic role from the bench, though it also speaks volumes that Ten Hag has stuck by him throughout his short time at the club. And at the end of the day, that is all that matters. Ten Hag is the man paid to make the decisions at United, and the fact he continues to trust his compatriot up front speaks volumes of the value he brings to the team.

Click here to read the full story.

According to Calciomercato, Inter Milan are the frontrunners to sign Borussia Monchengladbach and France striker Marcus Thuram ahead of United and Bayern Munich.

The Reds have been linked with a move for the 25-year-old in recent months, with Erik ten Hag keen to recruit a new forward at the end of the season.

Thuram has scored 14 goals in 22 appearances in all competitions this season.

De Gea is now level with Reds legend Peter Schmeichel on 180 clean sheets for United, having made 521 appearances for the club since he arrived from Atletico Madrid in June 2011.

• Liverpool (A) – March 5

• Southampton (H) – March 11

• Brighton & Hove Albion (A) – March 19

• Newcastle United (A) – April 1

• Everton (H) – April 8

• Nottingham Forest (A) – April 15

Erik ten Hag labelled United’s first-half performance against Leicester as “rubbish”.

United were fortunate to lead 1-0 at half-time through Marcus Rashford’s clinical 25th-minute strike after Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho were brilliantly denied by David de Gea with the game goalless.

Rashford was played onside by Leicester centre-back Harry Souttar from Bruno Fernandes’s perceptive pass and Ten Hag claimed only those two pieces of play were exempt from criticism.

Read what Ten Hag said here.

Gary Neville would ‘find it difficult’ to oppose a Qatari-led takeover of Manchester United because the Premier League already has two state-funded clubs.

Manchester City and Newcastle have been subject to controversial takeovers from Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia respectively in the Premier League.

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, the chairman of one of Qatar’s biggest banks, confirmed on Friday evening that he’d submitted a United takeover bid, which would be ‘debt free’ and prioritise ‘returning the club to its former glories’.

Read what Neville said here.

Erik ten Hag has got most of the big decisions right since he arrived at United, and it looks like he is already on course to get the next one spot on too.

Harry Maguire was never formally removed of the captain’s armband last summer, and even started the first two matches of the season before the drastic change was needed.

United have been a completely different side since that defeat at Brentford. So much emphasis is put on the fact that Casemiro was signed after it, but just as important was the switch to make Bruno Fernandes the captain.

Read the full article here.

Ten Hag played Sancho as a No.10 because he felt there was space in Leicester’s midfield to exploit.

“Second half, we play like the principles and the rules of the game from us,” Ten Hag said. “So we transferred the game plan and then you see we are dictating the game. And with Jadon on the pitch, there was a lot of space in the midfield area to bring him there to get players playing between the lines, get more dynamics, it worked really well, him and Bruno on that side.

“And I think with Wout up front we get better pressing. That’s due to the fact we are more controlling, dominating, dictating the game, finishing the game and in the end, is a deserved win. But the meaning of the first goal is important.”

Initial conversations over a new long-term contract for Rashford have already taken place and more are planned, according to The Athletic.

Rashford signed a one-year extension at Old Trafford in December, which expires in June 2024, but there are currently talks ongoing to ensure he comits his long-term future to the club.

The forward, who has 24 goals this season, is enjoying the best campain of his career

David de Gea equalled Peter Schmeichel’s clean sheet record for United yesterday.

He made two outstanding saves to deny Harvey Banes and Kelechi Iheanacho in the first half and he was key in United’s 3-0 victory, which drew him level with Schmeichel’s 180 clean sheets.

It was a stellar performace and deserving of making history.

Ten Hag, Fernandes and Rashford spoke to MUTV after yesterday’s win.

Erik ten Hag told the United supporters to return to Old Trafford on Thursday and help the team beat Barcelona in their Europa League play-off.

United overcame a disjointed first half to overwhelm Leicester City 3-0 in the Premier League to move within five points of leaders Arsenal.

The victory over Leicester came three days after United played out an absorbing 2-2 draw with Barcelona in the first leg of their knockout tie in Camp Nou.

Read what Ten Hag said here.

Two saves, two goals and two records. When Leicester breached Manchester United’s zigzag backline, they encountered the wall of David de Gea. Up the other end, Marcus Rashford shot at Danny Ward as though he was made of plaster.

Rashford has officially tallied his season-best haul of 24 club goals with more than three months of fixtures remaining. Provided he avoids injury, he is poised to become the first United player to break the 30-goal barrier since Robin van Persie 10 seasons ago.

De Gea is now level with Peter Schmeichel on 180 clean sheets, a feat achieved with possibly his most pivotal performance of the season. Both denials of Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho are worthy inclusions in his lengthy highlights reel.

Read the full report here.

United enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win over Leicester City to keep them in touching distance with the Premier League frontrunners.

Plenty of Reds players earned plaudits yesterday with Rashford and Sancho being among them.

Here is how MEN Sport rated the United team.

Hello and welcome to the United transfer blog this Monday.

Keep across all the news, views and rumours from Old Trafford right here.