Since March, Manchester United have, once again, been linked with Benfica winger Nico Gaitan.
Fans are already sick of hearing his name but there have been some developments. According to the Portuguese television, Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira and agent Jorge Mendes are in England to discuss his contract and Portuguese newspapers reported that the 27-year-old has now played his last game before joining Manchester United in a deal worth around £25million.
Unfortunately the same newspaper also reported on the same day that the same player is moving to French side Paris Saint-Germain. Now, unless he has a twin brother, that is hardly going to be possible.
Gaitan has been linked with a move to Old Trafford for years and in 2012 the Telegraph reported that a deal had been agreed for the Argentine. Since then fans have stopped getting excited that a deal could really be made.
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The press is busy reporting that a deal is “definite” this time but it would seem to be a bit of an odd signing for the Red Devils. Manager Louis van Gaal has already made it quite clear that during this transfer he needs to sign a defensive midfielder – something Gaitan is not. Van Gaal is after someone who can perform similar duties to Michael Carrick, but the 27-year-old is a lot more attack minded.
To add to the confusion, Chelsea are supposedly close to signing Gaitan, too. According to the Express, Benfica’s president has been spotted in London and the attacking midfielder has been on Manager of the Year Jose Mourinho’s radar for some time. It’s clear that no one really knows where he is going! The Blues were hoping to seal the deal by offering a part-exchange with their Brazilian defender Wallace.
Despite the Red Devils needing a defensive midfielder it seems like Angel di Maria has been desperate to convince van Gaal that Gaitan would make a great signing for the club.
The 27-year-old has a great speed and would really help their attacking options. Ironically Gaitan was bought by Benfica to replace Di Maria when he went to Real Madrid but the pair play together in international games and Di Maria believes that together they could bring an awful lot to Old Trafford.
Di Maria had a great start to the season for United, but he tailed off after getting injured. Bringing in Gaitan could be van Gaal’s way of spurring him on to get back to his best next season. The Dutch boss is nothing but unpredictable and Red Devils fans are not going to believe that he has signed until an official conference and a photograph appears with Gaitan holding a Manchester United shirt.
Despite reports there is still a slightly slimmer chance that the Argentine star could go to PSG, Chelsea or even Liverpool, but is seems more unlikely by the day. If Gaitan finally makes it through the doors of Old Trafford it must be one of the longest conquests in history.
Will Wesley Sneijder be joining him next? We haven’t heard his name mentioned for a while.
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