Site icon SBI Soccer

Mid-Day Ticker: United ties up Chicharito, Balotelli linked to Milan and more

Hernandez - reuters

By CALEB SONNELAND

It seems there is a little bit of silver lining for Manchester United fans following their club's 1-6 defeat to local rivals Manchester City — Javier Hernandez is at Old Trafford to stay.

Just a day after getting thrashed by the Blues, Mexican striker Chicharito put pen to paper on a five-year United contract which runs until 2016.

Since arriving at United, Chicharito became an instant fan favorite, netting on his debut against the 2010 MLS All Stars and finishing the Premier League season with 13 goals and 20 in all competitions.

Real Madrid was thought to be keeping tabs on the talented forward, so United responded by tying the player down for the foreseeable future.

Here are some other stories to get your week jump started:

BALOTELLI "MY PASSION" – MILAN CHIEF EXECUTIVE

No stranger to media headlines, Manchester City's Mario Balotelli is in them once again — this time over transfer speculation.

Despite enjoying a successful first year in Manchester, Balotelli's stint has been a tumultuous one to say the least.

Regardless of his controversial nature, the young Italian has attracted the interest of Serie A giant AC Milan, more specifically, its chief executive, Adriano Galliani.

Galliani claims that Balotelli is his "passion" and went on to say that he would even gel well with current Milan hitman Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Balotelli made the jump to City from Milan's local rivals Inter in the summer of 2010 for about €22.5 million.  The move saw the striker reunite with old Inter boss Roberto Mancini, and Balotelli has since scored 15 goals in all competitions since the move.

INTER WANTED TO SELL ME – SNEIJDER

One of the most publicized summer transfer sagas was that of Inter Milan's Wesley Sneijder, and the player revealed today that the club was prepared to sell him due to financial constraints.

Manchester United was said to be heavily interested in the Dutch play-maker, but the two clubs never reached an agreement.  Eventually, Samuel Eto'o was sold to big-spending Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala to ease the money concerns.

Sneijder claims he never wanted the move to United, but while he was away during the summer, got a phone call from his agent saying that he needed to speak to the club about a potential transfer.

Inter is currently cellar-dwelling in Serie A, resting in 17th place with just four points from six matches.

RIVER WON'T SELL OCAMPOS … YET

River Plate's Lucas Ocampos has long been the subject of transfer speculation following his explosive style of play and comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo.  But the historic club insists that it doesn't have to sell Ocampos and will only entertain the idea once it regains promotion to the Argentine top flight.

After selling Erik Lamela to Roma and Roberto Pereyra to Udinese this summer, River claims that it doesn't need the cash from the sale of Ocampos and that any potential suitors will have to wait.

Ocampos has turned the heads of some of the world's biggest clubs, with Chelsea, Manchester City and Bayern Munich all said to be interested in luring the 17-year-old to Europe.

But it seems, for now at least, Ocampos is staying put.

—————-

How important was it for United to tie up Hernandez?  Think Balotelli deserves the praise being heaped on him?  How different would United's season be if Sneijder had signed?

Share your thoughts below

Exit mobile version