Fabinho wants Manchester United move

Here’s The Guardian’s obituary of Ray Wilkins, one of Manchester United’s finest midfielders, who battled through dissent from the crowd to emerge as one of the best in central midfield that many fans of his generation had seen. He died at 61, after a struggle with alcohol that appears to have been the cause of his death. You would imagine that he will be remembered at the next United home game, and probably by all games this weekend.

While Liverpool are undoubtedly one of the most destructive institutions in the world, and a blight on humanity, they nonetheless deserve recognition for leaving Manchester City on the brink of an exit from the Champions League, after losing 3-0 to Liverpool at Anfield last night. That would leave Pep Guardiola something of a massive failure in Europe, unable to succeed unless he gets Lionel Messi.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan said it was important for him to join an offensive team after leaving Manchester United. Mkhitaryan seemed an alright bloke, and there was no indication that he really wanted to leave United, but if it is a dig at his former club, it is worth remembering that at the start of the season, United were an attacking team until he completely disappeared on the pitch for two months.

In transfer news, Manchester United have been linked with Monaco midfielder Fabinho. The Brazilian reportedly wants to join in the summer after being one of the few stars not leave Monaco last summer, and he can also play at right-back. It would allow Paul Pogba freedom to attack if he had someone alongside him, but with his versatility, it would mean there is cover or a replacement for the acceptable but limited Antonio Valencia. The story reports that Mourinho and United are planning for extensive transfer activity this summer.