Manchester United are prepared to offer £10m cash plus two players in order to land Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell.
CaughtOffside are reporting that United will try to tempt the Toffees into selling by giving them £7m-rate Mame Biram Diouf and £6m-rated Darron Gibson as well as cash. Due to their parlous financial position, Everton have not signed a single player in the current transfer window and the stagnation has been evident with a two lacklustre displays this season.
A 1-0 home reverse to newly-promoted QPR got their season off the the worse possible start and they were more than a little fortunate to claim a 1-0 win against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday when the opposition dominated proceedings and missed two penalties before a controversial spot kick award allowed Mikel Arteta to claim all three points in injury time.
With just three days remaining before the the deadline to sign players passes, United are aware that a straight cash deal might not be accepted by Everton boss David Moyes as the club would have precious little time to source and then sign any prospective targets. With striking options threadbare at Goodison Park, they could be tempted by the addition of Diouf who enjoyed a good spell at Blackburn last season.
Midfield is less of an issue with Marouane Fellaini, Mikel Arteta, and Leon Osman all available though the addition of a goalscorer in that position in the shape of Republic of Ireland international Gibson would provide a useful alternative.
For United’s part the bid is the culmination of a long-standing interest in the England Under 21 international who is still only 20 years of age. While Sir Alex Ferguson has embarked on an expensive recruitment drive already this summer with the signings of Ashley Young, Phil Jones and David De Gea, the supposed soft centre has not been addressed. Ferguson hopes that Rodwell will be the answer to that problem for years to come.
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