Papers: Reds eye Gaitan deal
Mark Ogden writes in the Telegraph... United eye £40m move for Gaitán Manchester United have made Benfica midfielder Nicolás Gaitán a target for the January transfer window, but will have to meet a £40 million release clause to sign him. Gaitán, who impressed during United’s 1-1 draw against the Portuguese club in a Champions League group fixture last month, has been watched repeatedly by Sir Alex Ferguson’s European scouting team in recent months. As a result of interest from United, Inter Milan and Paris St Germain, Benfica have secured the 23 year-old to a five-year contract this week, which will see the Argentine more than double his annual salary to £2 million. But despite increasing Gaitán’s wages, Benfica have been unable to increase the release clause within the player’s contract beyond the existing £40 million trigger fee. United, who are also monitoring Anderlecht’s Argentine midfielder Lucas Biglia, remain in the market for an attacking midfielder after failing in summer attempts to sign Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder and Samir Nasri, who favoured a move from Arsenal to Manchester City.
The Sun claims Tomasz Kuszczak is set for a cut-price departure from United during the January transfer window. The goalkeeper has fallen behind David De Gea, Anders Lindegaard and Ben Amos in the Old Trafford pecking order and has been linked with a move to West Brom and West Ham.
Elsewhere, Paul Hayward of the Guardian claims Sir Alex Ferguson will rotate his side for Saturday’s Barclays Premier League clash with Everton, dropping several players from the side which lost 6-1 to Manchester City.