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Manchester United have added themselves to the growing list of suitors for Newcastle United midfielder Yohan Cabaye, according to Alan Oliver of The Mirror. Cabaye has been seen as possible target following Newcastle's lackluster campaign in 2012-13. He reportedly expressed frustration at having his name mispronounced by incoming Director of Football Joe Kinnear is a now-infamous June interview, and manager Alan Pardew added fuel to the fire about a week and a half ago when he admitted that he and his want-away playmaker hadn't spoken over the summer.
It's really kind of amazing that he hasn't been linked to more teams, given all of that, which is probably why this is the perfect story for a Sunday paper. Manchester United could probably use a bit of positive news, given their public battles with Chelsea over a possible Wayne Rooney transfer, so why not bid £15 million (or say they're going to do so, just as good) for a player that supposedly won't be let go for less than £20 million? (Seriously, there's been too much finger-wagging from all corners of the front office on this point to actually accept anything less, lest they bring another public relations disaster upon themselves). The report solidifies the link by stating that Cabaye "has made it clear he would prefer to take up a fresh challenge in the Premier League," which totally explains the links to PSG and AS Monaco.
It's a plausible enough scenario that may do just enough to throw the Moyes Out crowd off the scent for half an afternoon, but only if they choose not to squint too hard at the assumptions made or at the circular logic employed to point out that Kinnear's appointment has failed to appease Cabaye's consternation about Kinnear's appointment. I doubt even fans of big clubs buy the "Of course he should be honored to play for you" pandering anymore, but that won't dissuade the tabloids from trying.
Typically we end these posts with some kind of hand-wringing about what it will all mean if this report comes to fruition, but it's becoming increasingly hard for me to respond earnestly to rumors that are just so flat-out lazy. I don't know if it's the lack of any real movement on the part of Newcastle United that's leading me to have a full onset of transfer window fatigue in mid-July, or if there's actually been an unusually high amount of sketchy reports this year. I suspect it's the former. Quick! Somebody make something up about Newcastle purchasing a player to distract us from all of this nonsense.