Gossip: Man Utd 'chase £33m Malcom', Arsenal 'offered Draxler for £40m', Alexis 'to be sold for £35m'
Manchester United’s latest reported transfer target seems like an interesting character, mainly because he is a Brazilian man named Malcom.
As anyone called Malcolm or anyone who has ever had a close relationship with anyone called Malcolm will know, there are two Ls in the name Malcolm and not one, as there is in Malcom.
So the question is: is Malcom’s name a haplessly misspelt tribute to its phonetically identical British equivalent in the vein of other Brazilian footballers with Anglicised names such as Fred, Douglas, Bernard et al?
Or is Malcom a perfectly legitimate Brazilian name with a purely coincidental similarity to the name we know and love as Malcolm?
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We can’t provide a definitive answer to this question right now, but perhaps we will be able to ask the man himself next month, because Malcom could allegedly be on his way to England imminently.
The Mail claims United are “working on a deal” to sign the Bordeaux “wonderkid” and have “opened talks” with the Ligue 1 club about a January transfer.
The Red Devils are prepared to pay £33m for the 20-year-old forward who manager Jose Mourinho rates as “one of the best young prospects in Europe”.
Unfortunately, Bordeaux are holding out for £50m, which means there is no guarantee we will get the chance to see Gary Lineker grill Malcom about the origins of his name on an upcoming episode of Match of the Day.
And even if United and Bordeaux do agree a fee next month, the Mail says he will be “immediately loaned back to France” anyway. Bummer.
Arsenal linked with Draxler (again)
Another team reportedly interested in Malcom is Arsenal, but their attentions may have been diverted by a tempting offer from Paris Saint-German.
The Sun claims PSG have told the Gunners “they can have” Julian Draxler – all they have to do is pay the Parisians £40m.
Arsene Wenger is a long-time admirer of the German winger and sees him as “the ideal replacement for Alexis Sanchez”.
However, Arsenal will apparently pay no more than £30m for Draxler, who has become a bit-part player at the Parc des Princes since the summer arrivals of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
The Sun adds that “Wenger has two other players he is watching but Draxler is first choice”, without telling us who these other two players are. Very helpful.
As for Alexis, the Mirror says Wenger is “ready to offload” the Chilean in January for £35m due to “growing concerns about his commitment”. Manchester City and PSG would be keen to take Arsenal up on that offer, but you already knew that.
Elsewhere, the Gunners will “do battle” with Chelsea to sign Bayer Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey next month (Star), Naby Keita wants to bring forward his transfer from RB Leipzig to Liverpool and could move to Anfield in January rather than next summer (Express) and Man Utd have offered Marouane Fellaini a “major pay rise” in a “desperate” last attempt to keep him at Old Trafford (Star). Yes, this is the same Marouane Fellaini who has made three league starts for United all season.
