The Story Of The Summer-
According to the latest reports, Premier League giants Manchester United were said to be interested in retaining star duo of Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku (though that did not happen) in the summer transfer window. Despite the rumors and links that the two were having over the past few months of a potential move away from Old Trafford, the duo look set to remain at the Red half of Manchester (as confirmed back then).
Manchester United went through quite a torturous season last term as they finished in sixth place in the Premier League table without any real chance to win silverware. At the start of the term, Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho was in charge of the club but his defensive tactics and negative style of football did not go down well with the United faithful. With no results and dire performances, the writing was on the wall for the 56-year-old Mourinho. And in December, Manchester United decided to part ways with the ‘Special One’ and turn to a former face in the form of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to handle the reigns at least until the end of the season.
The Norwegian impressed heavily in his initial few games in charge of the club as he guided United to the quarter-finals of the Champions League in dramatic fashion. The Red Devils overturned a 3-1 deficit against the Ligue 1 champions to win 2-0 at the Parc des Princes and progress through to the next round. The 20-time English champions also strung together some positive results in the Premier League which pushed them close to a fop four position and a Champions League berth. These impressive displays handed Solskjaer a three-year contract but after the 46-year-old signed his new deal, the outcome was quite dreadful.
United was dumped out of the Champions League by Barcelona and suffered a few humiliating defeats in the Premier League. The Red Devils faced a difficult summer as they try to keep hold of the star players at Old Trafford to avoid interest from other suitors. Solskjaer had already lured in Daniel James and Aaron Wan Bissaka as arrivals this summer but he needs to keep hold of some key players in his squad.
Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku had not been able to hit the ground running ever since his move from Everton back in the summer of 2017 and reports claimed that the big striker was keen on a move away from Manchester United. Serie A outfit Inter Milan were keeping a close eye on his situation and the 26-year-old center forward would make the move to the San Siro if a £75m deal was negotiated (which eventually happened).
Real Madrid was monitoring French midfield ace Paul Pogba this summer as the former Juventus man has stated that it is his dream to play for the La Liga giants and under national compatriot Zinedine Zidane (but that did not happen). Pogba had been one of the prime targets for the Spanish club and the rumors are strongly linking the midfield to join Real Madrid.
The Sale Of The Summer
Romelu Lukaku was eventually let go of for a fee of £74m, as Inter finally completed the signing of the player, who was linked with them for quite some time. The deal was one of the best sales of the summer transfer window, as the Belgian is surely not worth that much money. Though Antonio Conte believes that he will be the perfect fit for the Italian giants, it will be interesting to see whether that is the actual case of not.
