Manchester United hit back at Real Madrid after inconsistent claims on David de Gea transfer

Mark Ogden in the Telegraph has a blog explaining why Real Madrid's claims don't add up on the David de Gea transfer. Simply put, Florentino Perez's claims don't match up with the facts in any conceivable way. He's reacting strenuously because a) he's not used to not getting his way and b) the fans have rumbled him as a chump (after a decade of evidence, so well done there, chaps). You can read that here.

The Guardian has quotes from Alex Ferguson, claiming that maintaining control of the dressing room by selling some of his best players might have cost him some titles. You can read that here, and compare that to Louis van Gaal, and wonder if the balance is not quite correct in that respect at the moment.

On ESPNFC, they demonstrate that United's squad is the third costliest in Europe. And look how thin it is! It's a real mismanagement of resources to have ended up with such a thing. There's no experienced back-up to Wayne Rooney, and the central defence is unacceptably makeshift. Nevertheless, there's real talent  to exploit there if someone can get it functioning as a team.

And lastly, Bobby Charlton has some words of encouragement for Rooney as the current United striker looks likely to beat his England goalscoring record in the next few days. You can read that in the Mirror.

NB: It has been noted that Real Madrid fans are unhappy with the words used to describe Florentino Perez. We'd like to apologise for giving the impression that we care even slightly. Enjoy Rafael Benitez.