Reports from Germany – following on similar stories in the British press last weekend – claim that Manchester United has bid $95 million for German international striker Thomas Muller. Louis van Gaal enjoys a close relationship with the player, whom he handed his Bayern Munich debut back in 2008, and is keen to test the Bavarian club’s resolve to hang onto one of their star men.
There is absolutely no question that Muller is a player Manchester United desperately need. He has sipped Hofbräu from almost every cup there is to win domestically and internationally, scored or created 23 Bundesliga goals last season and chipped in with another two in the first league game of this one. Muller would be a welcome addition to any forward line, but especially to the Red Devils’, whose current strike-force is comprised of the consistently inconsistent Wayne Rooney, out-of-favor Javier Hernandez and 19-year-old James Wilson (his full name).
While there are hints that the man himself might be open to a move (Muller has long professed his love for van Gaal), you’d get better odds on a dry Oktoberfest than Bayern Munich selling one of the jewels in their beer-soaked crown. Bayern Chief Executive Karl-Heinze Rummenigge told supporters earlier in the transfer window that Bastian Schweinsteiger would be the only departure from the Allianz Arena this summer, and has previously said that the club “would be out of our minds” to sell Muller. Sporting Director Matthias Sammer, doing his best MasterCard impression, has added that Muller “is a player we cannot put a price on.”
Given the very clear and public stance from Bayern’s executives, it would be hugely difficult for the club to backtrack now and allow Muller to leave, at least in this transfer window. Which makes it all the more staggering that United have seemingly stopped their pursuit of Barcelona winger Pedro, a player keen to leave Catalonia and available for comparative chump change. For the record, Chelsea are now favorites to land the Spanish international.
Despite a relatively strong start to the transfer window, the summer of 2015 is starting to look a lot like David Moyes’ first transfer window two seasons earlier, with Ed Woodward – Manchester’s very own Don Quixote – tilting at windmills while more realistic targets pass him by.
With less than a fortnight of the transfer window to go, and a grand total of three shots on target in 180 minutes of Premier League football so far this season, it looks dangerously like the “mystery striker” Louis van Gaal alluded to all those weeks ago was, in fact, Marouane Fellaini.
