Manchester United are now reportedly preparing a stunning blockbuster move worth over £150m to sign a Real Madrid superstar in 2026.

Man Utd preparing £150m+ offer to sign Real Madrid star

After splashing the cash in the summer transfer window to welcome the likes of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, INEOS still have plenty of work to do in 2026. Even if Ruben Amorim can very much consider his attacking problems solved after that summer spending, his midfield issues have certainly been laid bare in recent weeks.

With Bruno Fernandes out injured, Kobbie Mainoo out-of-favour and Manuel Ugarte struggling to win over the Old Trafford faithful, the Red Devils must act in the January transfer window.

To that end, several targets have seemingly entered United’s radar in recent weeks, including Ruben Neves. The Al-Hilal midfielder is reportedly ready to leave Saudi Arabia in favour of a move back into European football and Man United are among the clubs chasing his signature.

The same can be said about Adam Wharton and Carlos Baleba. The two Premier League stars are among the top Man United targets heading into 2026 and there’s no doubt that both would be perfect upgrades for Amorim.

Both are Premier League proven, but like Neves, aren’t the only options on Man United’s shortlist. Joining the three aforementioned names is reportedly Jude Bellingham.

Reports in Spain have even gone as far as to claim that Man United are preparing an offer to sign Bellingham from Real Madrid worth as much as €200m (£174m).

It’s the biggest move that INEOS could make and would almost mirror the impressive deals that the Red Devils of old used to secure.

£150m+ Bellingham would transform Man Utd

As far as transformative signings go, Bellingham would be the perfect addition. The England international is still just 22 years old and is the type of talent worthy of building around. He hasn’t just thrived at the Bernabeu since arriving, he has dominated La Liga at times – arguably becoming England’s greatest export.

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The midfielder has been handed endless praise over the last few years, including from Man United legend Rio Ferdinand, who said last year: “Jude’s over there somewhere, what he’s doing is something wild. I’ve spoken to a lot of former players, played for Real Madrid. Roberto Carlos, [Zinedine] Zidane and those guys, and they don’t even remember a player coming in and having the impact he’s had in the first season, at his age.

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“No one’s done this. He’s doing stuff that’s not been done before, scoring a ridiculous amount of goals in the Clasico, etcetera. Impacting games, impacting the squad. Taking the responsibility in the squad as he has, at that age, is just something we’ve never seen.”

It will be a tough pitch to sell, but INEOS should do everything to sign Bellingham next year.

Aston Villa and Wolves played out a dour Midlands derby with both clubs keeping up their unbeaten starts to the new season. A point sees Mick McCarthy’s side rise to the top of the Premier League for a few hours at least, with Villa moving into fourth.

Chances were few and far between at Villa Park as both sides seemed content to take a share of the spoils with Alex McLeish coming through his first derby game unscathed as manager of the hosts.

He will be very unhappy that his side failed to hit the target in the first half despite an attack boasting the likes of Darren Bent, Emile Heskey, Charles N’Zogbia and Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Heskey was guilty of wasting a glorious chance to open the scoring heading inches wide from an Agbonlahor cross. Wolves also had chances of their own with Stephen Hunt’s header being tipped wide by Shay Given.

The home side cranked up the pressure in the second half with Agbonlahor testing Wayne Hennessey with a low drive before Richard Dunne thought he had broken the deadlock only for his header to be nodded off the line by Wolves striker Kevin Doyle.

Come the final whistle both sides seemed pleased with a point which consolidated their strong start to the new campaign.

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Manchester United currently sit top of the league, having lost two of their ten games, slightly ahead of title rivals Chelsea and Manchester City.

The explanation for this, we are often told, is that competitiveness within the Premier League has increased, but could another reason be that the elite in the top flight simply isn’t as strong as it used to be?

Chelsea have perhaps been the most impressive team in the league this season, with summer signings Eden Hazard and Oscar settling in superbly alongside the magnificent Juan Mata behind Fernando Torres. However, they remain a flawed side, which is part of what makes them so exciting. When we take a look at their European form, they were out-classed twice by Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk in this season’s Champions League as they seek to retain their European title, even if they managed to win their latest encounter at Stamford Bridge.

Credit must go to Roberto Di Matteo for moulding a new style in the aftermath of last season’s success and he really has done an excellent job considering the circumstances and pressures placed upon him. However, they are far from the finished article and in 18 games this term, they’ve kept six clean sheets, but let in 27 goals. That they’ve scored 46 goals of their own has largely covered up the fact that they remain an unbalanced outfit and against true quality, as they’ve shown against Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, Shakhtar and Juventus so far this campaign. They are not alone, though.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson invested heavily in the summer on both Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa and while they may have already qualified from a weak Champions League group after just four games, the sense that they may struggle against greater challenges persists and they’ve been bailed out time and time again by the quality and strength of their forward ranks.

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They were outplayed by Liverpool at Anfield, even with the opposition being reduced to ten men following Jonjo Shelvey’s red card and against Tottenham, Southampton and Chelsea they’ve also looked worryingly fragile at the back, even if the Everton loss on the opening day can be attributed to a somewhat makeshift defence, which continues to cause problems. While last term they were bordering on an embarrassment in Europe, crashing out of both competitions in quick succession, making a mockery of Ferguson’s rebuke that his team weren’t struggling and that the mere suggestion that they were was laughable.

Roberto Mancini’s side this season have looked a shadow of the one which won the Premier League last term, in part due to a failure to really strengthen the starting eleven over the summer and the manager’s needless tinkering with the side’s system, which has caused more harm than good.

The fact that they’ve had two difficult groups in Europe two years running hasn’t helped matters, coming up against Bayern Munich and Napoli last term and Real Madrid, Ajax and Borussia Dortmund this. They’ve barely displayed even half of their ability in this competition and that’s how you truly judge the elite, by how they fare against what other countries have to offer and whenever the occasion has called for a performance, they’ve come up short.

Cast your mind back to the talent that was on offer in this country just a few years ago – Chelsea had Arjen Robben, Claude Makelele, Hernan Crespo, Michael Essien and Ricardo Carvalho. Manchester United had Ruud van Nitelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo and Edwin van der Saar. Arsenal Thierry Henry, Roberto Pires and Cesc Fabregas. Liverpool had Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano.

Yet each side, due to economic reasons and top players either being pursued by the Spanish duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid or simply coming to the ends of their careers, haven’t replaced their outgoing stars with players of the same quality. There’s not quite as much depth or talent at the top in the Premier League these days, which allows those teams below to become more competitive. The league has undoubtedly levelled out more, which has only seen standards slip, particularly in terms of defending.

Standards are certainly slipping, which makes it a much more difficult league to predict for the most part and it makes fabulous entertainment. Most of us can agree that Chelsea’s Champions League win, much like Liverpool’s back in 2005, wasn’t a showing of strength, more an acceptance of both teams limitations and neither were the best teams in the final, let alone throughout the competition.

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Ask yourself this, how many truly world-class players does the league possess this season? Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero, Juan Mata, David Silva and Robin van Persie may come into that bracket, but there’s not a whole lot else to choose from. Then contrast this with the number that was in the Premier League say three years ago, or five.

Each title challenger these days has an obvious weakness for the opposition to exploit, whether home or abroad, and as competitiveness increases, the quality across the board has spread, meaning our best is now no longer comparable with what the rest of Europe has to offer. For many this is good news, it all depends what you want to take from the league, but when looking back at what the league was like when English sides were the teams to beat, a gradual decline has most certainly set in.

Do you think the Premier League is as good as it has been in the past? Do you prefer it the way it is now? Follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1 and let me know what you think.

Opening batsman TS Prasad hit 111 and shared a century partnershipwith Arjun Kumar for the fifth wicket as Andhra ended the second day’splay in the KSCA Coca Cola Trophy (under-25) match against Goa inBangalore on Monday with a score of 285 for five wickets.Overnight rain prevented a prompt start and play got underway only at2.10 pm. Resuming at 101 for two, Andhra lost Balaji Krishna (15) withthe score on 108. Raj Kiran (25) helped Prasad add 48 runs for thefourth wicket. Then Prasad and Arjun Kumar came together and added 126runs off 30 overs. Prasad, who had batted patiently was finally out inthe 80th over with the total on 282. He batted 316 minutes, faced 233balls and hit ten of them to the ropes. Arjun Kumar however camethrough unbeaten with 70 at stumps. He faced 99 balls and hit sixfours and a six.

The State selectors have included Jo Angel in the Western Warriors teamto play the SA Redbacks, for the ING Cup game at the Adelaide Oval thisFriday.Angel returns to the Western Warriors ING Cup team to replace BradOldroyd, who has been ruled unfit to play, due to concussion.Oldroyd suffered concussion following a collision with Peter McIntyre,while bowling during the Warrior’s outright victory over the Redbacks,in the Pura Cup game at the Adelaide Oval earlier today.As a precautionary measure, Warriors Team Manager Ron Bowe, followingthe collision, took Oldroyd to hospital. Oldroyd has suffered concussionat least three times previously.Bowe will monitor Oldroyd’s condition during the next twenty-four hourperiod following the injury. Another appraisal of his condition will bemade at 10.00am tomorrow morning.Warriors Team – ING Cup:

• SIMON KATICH (Capt)
• MICHAEL HUSSEY (Vice Capt)
• JO ANGEL
• RYAN CAMPBELL
• MURRAY GOODWIN
• KADE HARVEY
• STUART KARPPINEN
• BRAD HOGG
• MATT NICHOLSON
• MARCUS NORTH
• CHRIS ROGERS
• BRAD WILLIAMS

The sun has shone in daylight hours in the week preceding the India team’s arrival in Colombo, but as so often happens on the island, rains lie in ambush for the first sign of cricket. The visitors had been scheduled to train at the Premadasa Stadium, but when early morning drizzle worsened into showers, they switched to the indoor nets, partway across town at the Nondescripts Cricket Club.So when M Vijay was asked before this training session how well he was hitting the ball, “I don’t know – the rain spoiled the previous training” was all the reply he could offer. It was a low-key reply to what has so far been a low-key arrival. The series is sure to heat up when Kumar Sangakkara returns to the country and marches into that final series. But for now, Colombo has switched cricket off, and turned attentions to the general election, which takes place in between the first and second Test.When it does begin, following the three-day warm up starting on Friday, the series is sure to be a juicy one. Both teams are rebuilding, but are going about it in different ways. While Angelo Mathews has eyed gradual improvement, Virat Kohli heads a team that aims to be forceful and dynamic, though they haven’t yet had much success overseas.Among Kohli’s plans for the series may be the use of five bowlers in his XI. It is a strategy India trialled in Bangladesh, with roughly good results, but not one they had usually used under MS Dhoni. The flip side of that, of course, is the extra strain on the batsmen, which Vijay said was no strain at all.”Playing with five bowlers is not demanding for batsmen,” he said. “Batting is our role. If any one of us click it’s going to be good for the team and we’re going to be in a much more comfortable position. It’s a good responsibility to have on your shoulders – to go in and bat. If you’re going to dominate a Test match we should work according to the plans.”Vijay, now a relative senior in the batting unit, will be expected to provide some of the runs a No. 7 might have hit, particularly as his recent overseas record has been outstanding. He is grateful that, following his nine-month Test hiatus in 2013, his return to top-level cricket was gradual.”That nine month period I was out of the team – I had my wrist injury at the same time,” he said. “It’s not an easy period for any sportsperson, carrying an injury. I had to go through the regime of rehabilitation. Once I got my rhythm back in my batting it helped to play one format of the game and not play the other two. I had a little more time to work on my fitness and stuff, during that period. “While the teams’ captains have contrasting virtues, there is symmetry at the top of the innings. Vijay has often played within himself while Shikhar Dhawan broke loose at the other. Sri Lanka have set out with a similar pair – Kaushal Silva doing the Geoffrey Boycott impression, as Dimuth Karunaratne flashes his blade.”There’s a lot of talent” in the Sri Lanka batting order, Vijay said, but perhaps because these teams play each other so rarely in Tests, he could not say much more. “Angelo Mathews is doing a great job, and Lahiru Thirimanne and the opener – I don’t know the exact name,” he said. If the rains relent, they will get to know each other a little better as the tour wears on.

ScorecardJesse Ryder scored his second Championship hundred of the season•Getty Images

It was a day for high-class operators at Chelmsford. Jesse Ryder scored a breezy hundred, Ravi Bopara made a rather more steadfast 99 but James Anderson’s four-for ensured that Lancashire remain in with a sniff of conjuring the victory required if they are to overtake Surrey and claim the Division Two title.As England’s leading Test run-scorer, Alastair Cook can probably count himself in high-class category too but he managed only 1 off seven balls before losing his duel with Anderson. Forced to watch on from the Essex balcony, it is possible some of the day’s entertainment might have been lost on him. “I didn’t get a smile at lunch,” Anderson said afterwards.Anderson sat out the last two Tests of England’s Ashes victory due to a side strain but he looked to have found his groove again here, a week before the squad flies out to the UAE.”I’ve missed playing so it’s been nice to have a couple of games for Lancashire,” he said. “It was frustrating missing maybe six weeks with injury but I think once you get a little bit older and more experienced it’s easier to come back and settle back in to four-day cricket. I’ll hopefully continue to get better rhythm and take more wickets in this game.”The last time Lancashire played here, in 2013, they bowled Essex out for 20. At 14 for 2 and then 29 for 3 after being put in on a damp September morning, there were dark murmurings that the home side would implode again. They were rescued by stands of 186 and 95 for the next two wickets, before Anderson returned with the second new ball to leave things in the balance. It is not inconceivable that a deal could be struck later on, should Surrey fail to put away Northamptonshire at The Oval.Essex may have appeared in trouble but Ryder does not seem to let too much worry him these days. After showing Anderson and Glen Chapple due deference, he tucked in against the change bowling, the bat swinging insouciantly through the line as he recorded his second Championship century of the season.Ryder has found tranquillity in Chelmsford after the turbulence that marked his earlier career. He looks like finishing short of 1000 first-class runs but the supporters do not lack for excuses to applaud his lazily destructive batting or handy seam-up bowling (he has taken another 44 wickets this season). Tom Bailey felt the brunt of his attack, conceding 37 off the 27 balls he bowled to Ryder, which included a couple of sixes swatted beyond the boundary boards.He brought up his hundred from just 115 deliveries, having also threatened the fencing at the Hayes Close End with another maximum off Luis Reece. Then, a ball after pulling Bailey dismissively over square leg, he played leadenly at a straight one to be bowled for 116, his appetite sated.Bopara looked less at ease throughout, which is perhaps to be expected after a season in which his previous top score in the Championship was 69. Anderson was peeved not to be awarded an lbw decision against him on 27 and Bopara nearly ran himself out on 78, having to dive for his crease as Bailey chased the ball into the leg side in his follow through but missed the stumps.In between times, he threaded a number of silken drives through the covers and down the ground, while Ryan ten Doeschate contributed to the flow with an aggressive 59 during a partnership of 95. He eventually spooned Anderson to mid-off and Bopara, after spending 26 balls in the 90s and five overs on 99, followed him two overs later when he got something on a rising delivery and Phil Mustard sprawled to take the catch.The fact this is now effectively a three-day match, after Tuesday’s washout, lent an old-fashioned feel to proceedings. The involvement of so many international players was also slightly retro – Lancashire’s new-ball pair had 321 England caps between them (albeit Anderson had 320 of them).Cook got off the mark with a push into the covers off Chapple but only survived one delivery from Anderson before being pinned in front. Cook once recalled that the first time he played against Anderson a decade ago “he called me everything under the sun” but he would surely have put up with the potty mouth if it had meant significant time in the middle ahead of England’s UAE tour. The next time Anderson wants a rest with England, he may have to ask his captain extra nicely.Chapple then picked up wickets 983 and 984 of his illustrious first-class career. Will he play on next season to reach the four-figure mark? It seems even he is unsure. But a demanding opening spell of 12 overs in which he had Tom Westley, Essex’s England Lions batsman, caught behind and Nick Browne, their leading scorer this season, taken at third slip, suggested he still has the skill and stamina to contribute as Lancashire attempt stay in Division One.

Azhar Ali, the Pakistan batsman, has been ruled out of the opening Test against England that starts on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi. Azhar suffered a toe injury during the series against Zimbabwe earlier this month and since then he has not trained.”He will not be playing in the first Test,” Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan team manager, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo. “His wound is almost dried up but he is not comfortable wearing his shoe and didn’t take part in training activities since we are here.”The news is a significant setback for Pakistan, who had been optimistic about Azhar’s recovery until today’s assessment which revealed that the pus in his infected wound had not completely healed up. As Pakistan’s ODI captain, he missed the final match of last week’s series win in Zimbabwe, but it is understood that the searing heat in the UAE has set back the recovery process.This is Azhar’s first injury setback since his Test debut against Australia at Lord’s in 2010, and with a current Test average of 44.06 in 44 matches, including nine hundreds, England’s bowlers will be grateful for his absence.He made a matchwinning 92 not out against England at The Oval in 2010 and completed the 3-0 whitewash on their last tour of the UAE with a second-innings 157 at Dubai, after Pakistan had been bowled out for 99 in their first innings.”He played very well last time at No. 3,” said James Anderson, England’s attack leader. “He was the guy to get out for them even with their experienced players after him, I thought he was the key wicket for us so he’ll be a big miss. But they have plenty of other quality players who have made big runs out here.”Azhar’s absence means that one of Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez is likely to fill the void at No.3, with Shan Masood set to retain his opener’s role following his matchwinning century against Sri Lanka at Pallekele in July.

Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar will captain opposing teams in a three-match T20 exhibition tour of the USA next month. The matches will be played in New York, Houston and Los Angeles and the event, titled “Cricket All-Stars Series 2015″, will feature more than two dozen retired internationals from other Test nations.The matches will take place on November 7 at New York’s Citi Field, November 11 at Houston’s Minute Maid Park and November 14 at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium. The first two games are slated to be played in the daytime while the final game at Dodger Stadium is scheduled to be played under the lights at the 56,000 capacity facility.”To make history in America playing these cricket games, myself and Sachin walking out and tossing the coin in New York at Citi Field, will be a pretty epic moment,” Warne told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Warne had said in June that Chicago’s Wrigley Field would also be a venue during the tour, but those plans were scrapped while an earlier proposal to play at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx had also been ditched in favor of Citi Field located in the New York City borough of Queens.

List of participating players

India – Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Ajit Agarkar
Australia – Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Glenn McGrath, Brad Haddin
South Africa – Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Jonty Rhodes, Allan Donald
England – Graeme Swann, Michael Vaughan
West Indies – Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Carl Hooper
Sri Lanka– Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene
Pakistan– Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Moin Khan
New Zealand– Daniel Vettori

All three facilities are baseball stadiums – occupied by the NY Mets, Houston Astros and LA Dodgers – and according to sources, drop-in pitches will be used with the strips being laid from second base extending out toward the centre field wall.Apart from the captains whose teams are named “Sachin’s Blasters” and “Warne’s Warriors”, the event website lists 26 other players who are set to take part including Brian Lara and Wasim Akram. Besides Tendulkar, three former Indian team-mates join him on the exhibition roster: Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Ajit Agarkar. Four other Australians are also listed to join Warne: Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Glenn McGrath and Brad Haddin.According to a list obtained by ESPNcricinfo, nine other players were also tentatively included to take part: Anil Kumble, Andy Flower, Sanath Jayasuriya, Shahid Afridi, Waqar Younis, Andrew Flintoff, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee and Michael Hussey. However, Younis will be coaching Pakistan against England in the UAE throughout November while Mahela Jayawardene, one of the players included in the main list of 26, is also in the UAE in a consultant role with England but is understood to be leaving after the first Test ends on October 17.This is the first attempt at a revenue-generating cricket foray in the USA since a pair of Twenty20 matches were played between West Indies and New Zealand in June 2012 at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. The 15,000 capacity facility is the only ICC ODI-certified cricket specific stadium in the USA, but will not be used for any of the T20 exhibition matches.

ScorecardCape Cobras had the best bowler – Mthokozisi Shezi with 5 for 34 – and the top scorer of the game – Wayne Parnell with 74 not out – but they still fell 12 short of Warriors in East London.Warriors cobbled together a total of 153 for 8 after choosing to bat, the innings stuttering as only three batsmen made it past 20. JJ Smuts’ unbeaten 61 off 40 balls was their best score, while Colin Ackerman’s 34 was second highest. Shezi ran through the middle and lower order, striking twice in two different overs to cripple the innings.Cobras opened with Parnell once again and he made 74 off 60 balls, batting through the innings. He got very little support though and there was a steady fall of wickets at the other end. Justin Kemp’s 20 was the next best score for Cobras and a low scoring rate deprived the chase of momentum. Five Warriors bowlers picked up wickets, with Andrew Birch returning best figures of 3 for 28.