Manchester United have been offered the chance to sign one of the best wingers in European football, but they have their eye on another player instead.

Man United‘s main summer transfer focus has, unsurprisingly, been on strengthening the central midfield area after Casemiro’s exit was compounded by Manuel Ugarte suffering a serious knee injury for Uruguay at the 2026 World Cup.

The Red Devils had looked set to bring in Ederson from Serie A outfit Atalanta, but a move broke down amid concerns over the Brazil international’s medical.

Still, United have completed the impressive double signing of two players with Premier League experience in Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans for a combined fee of £85m, the same price that Tottenham Hotspur paid for another former Red Devils target in Mateus Fernandes.

Club chiefs still want to land another midfielder for the engine room, with a number six on the agenda, with a feeling they are still yet to properly replace Casemiro’s profile.

Manu Kone, Aurelien Tchouameni and Carlos Baleba are some of the names mentioned the most in recent weeks, but United could also look at other areas of the pitch too, including left-back and left-wing, especially if Marcus Rashford leaves.

Man United Offered Rafael Leao Transfer

via Reuters

According to Tuttomercatoweb, Manchester United have been offered the chance to sign AC Milan winger Leao ‘in recent hours’.

The Portugal international confirmed publicly this summer that he would like to leave the San Siro for a new challenge after seven years at the club, but with just over a month until the transfer window closes, no European team has made their move.

AC Milan are willing to sell but want to recoup £51m for him.

Leao was described as ‘one of the best LWs in the world’ by Como scout Ben Mattinson last year, and on his day he can be unplayable for opposition defenders.

Man United Want Francisco Conceicao Instead

via Reuters

According to the same report, while Jorge Mendes is pushing Leao to them and other clubs, the Red Devils prefer Juventus star Francisco Conceicao instead.

The 23-year-old attacker has impressed for Juve, scoring 11 goals and registering a further 11 assists in 82 appearances for the Old Lady.

The Turin-based outfit now value the Portugal international at €50m, which makes him cheaper than Leao, and he is younger too.

United’s hopes of landing Conceicao may have been boosted too, with TMW claiming that Juve may now need to make an ‘important’ sale this summer following the additions of Randal Kolo Muani and Karim Alajbegovic on Thursday.

One of the main differences between Leao and Conceicao is that the former plays from the left and the latter plays from the right, which again might hint at the fact that Marcus Rashford could be staying at Old Trafford for this season.

Indeed, the Red Devils or the player are yet to receive any offers from clubs that would be attractive, with Carrick said to be looking forward to working with him after his successful loan spell at Barcelona.

Football and gaming fans just received their biggest insight yet into the new and improved features of EA Sports FC 27. The developers’ Gameplay Deep Dive and accompanying Gameplay Pitch Notes covered the changes in every area of the pitch, with emphasis on giving autonomy back to the gamers.

The EA gaming community has criticised the overreliance on AI assistance in recent editions and EA have listened to the fans with their latest installment. The result is greater control across every mode within the game.

EA Sports have been building anticipation for the game with a steady stream of key information, as well as cover star Kylian Mbappé. But the deep dive into the new gameplay features is the biggest indicator as to what EA Sports FC 27 will look like.

Here’s a closer look at the biggest changes this year ahead of the game’s imminent release.

Manual Defending Gets the Biggest Makeover

EA Sports

Starting from the back and working their way forward, EA Sports FC 27 has taken a lot of power away from the AI defenders. Rather than mindlessly chasing the ball, they will instead wait for the gamer to take control and decide how they want to approach the attacker.

Positively, there are still scenarios where the AI defender will try to win the ball, for example, if an attacker runs into them. The developers have also reduced the interception range of AI defenders. This has helped to hand the defensive decision-making back to the gamer.

Improvements to Teammate Contain and jockeying speed are the biggest changes to Manual Defending and will help AI teammates to spot attacking danger earlier in the sequence of play.

Corner Kicks and Crossing Overhauled

EA Sports

The offensive side of EA Sports FC has also improved considerably, with the changes reflecting the chaos of modern set pieces.

After choosing where to deliver the corner, the camera now shifts to the penalty box, allowing the gamer to control the actions of attacking players. This allows greater control over runs, shielding, and switching.

The new Avoidance mechanic helps with this, allowing for smoother movement through crowded areas. Players contesting for the ball during corner kicks will also no longer automatically move into the best position to connect with the ball, providing a greater command over set piece strategy.

The changes to crossing also provide more freedom for the user. Rather than targeting a specific player with a cross, there is now more emphasis on delivering into space and dangerous areas. This has been introduced alongside greater precision for headers from corners and free kicks.

Passing and Through Balls Become More Manual

EA Sports

The emphasis on greater user control continues with the tweaks to passing. Through balls, ground passes, and lobbed passes now require more directional input from the gamer. This not only benefits attacking gameplay, but complements the defensive overhaul too.

Gamers are rewarded for the accurate aiming of passes, whilst giving defensive players the chance to intercept passes if they read the play correctly.

Unlike crossing, through passes are no longer geared towards hitting open spaces. The emphasis is on the skill of the gamer, all the while maintaining the vast range of creative passing options available to them.

More Intelligent Attacking AI

EA Sports

One of the most exciting updates is to the attacking AI’s improved off-the-ball movement. EA have introduced a new system, Attacking Spatial Awareness, that helps AI attackers to make smarter runs that avoid defenders.

Interestingly, the type of run made by the attacker is affected by the context of the attack. The developers have introduced new curved runs triggered by the gamer that also works in tandem with an improved awareness of the offside trap.

The updated spatial awareness system also helps AI attackers to identify open passing lanes to run into. And rather than running continuously into these spaces, AI attackers will stop after a certain distance before returning to their position, helping to maintain formational shape.

Much like the game’s exciting new social hub, AI attackers are being given more freedom to roam.

Major Boosts to Dribbling, PlayStyles, and Attributes

EA Sports

EA’s new Off-Balance Dribbling helps the game’s very best dribblers to shine during physical duels with defenders. Dribblers with the required balance, dribbling, and agility attributes will hold onto possession when under pressure from defenders. If a defender engages the skilled dribbler with shoulder charges or any form of contact, the dribbler will be more likely to stay in control of the ball and ride the challenge.

The most popular PlayStyles, such as the Finesse Shot and the Incisive Pass, have been adjusted to reduce the gap between these unique traits and core player attributes. This has resulted in player ratings that are more accurate and meaningful, regardless of whether they have a PlayStyle applied or not.

With SummerSlam edging closer on the horizon, anticipation is reaching a crescendo as WWE prepares to stage one of the biggest weekends on its calendar.

A two-night spectacle held across the 1st and 2nd of August at Minneapolis’ US Bank Stadium promises blockbuster championship clashes, feuds reaching their zenith, and several contests capable of reshaping WWE’s landscape heading into the autumn of this year.

With fans continuing to speculate over who will emerge from their bouts shrouded in SummerSlam glory, fresh backstage reports suggest that WWE may have already settled the majority of the card, already choosing their creative direction.

WWE Reportedly Already Know Six Winners at SummerSlam

According to WrestleVotes radio on Fightful Select, a source familiar with WWE’s creative plans has indicated that the direction of six bouts may already have been decided.

Plans in professional wrestling are always liable to change, but the report claims that six stars have emerged as the favourites in their match-ups and are likely to walk away from the marquee event with glory draped across them.

Among those expected to prevail are Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk and World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns.

Punk will be facing long-time friend and current adversary Cody Rhodes. After vanishing from WWE television for 78 days, Punk returned to the grand stage by defeating Sami Zayn on the 6th July to claim his third recognised Undisputed WWE Championship.

The two men battling it out to call themselves the Undisputed WWE Champion recently faced off against Sami Zayn and Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLV in a tag-team match to ensure the SummerSlam showdown remained a one-on-one affair, rather than evolving into a Fatal 4-Way for the belt.

Reigns, meanwhile, will renew hostilities with another familiar foe in Seth Rollins.

The pair share one of the richest and most enduring rivalries in WWE history, stretching back well over a decade to their days alongside Dean Ambrose in The Shield, a trio that captured the WWE Tag Team Championship on three occasions.

In the years following, their paths have crossed countless times, though, none more famous than WrestleMania 31 in 2015, when Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during the main event between Reigns and Brock Lesnar, promptly pinning Reigns and winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, a moment forever immortalised and dubbed as the ‘Heist of the Century.’

Whether SummerSlam represents the final instalment in their pair’s storied history remains to be seen, but there is an undeniable sense that a saga spanning more than a decade is reaching its final chapter.

Alongside the two main events, Trick Williams is expected to retain his WWE United States Championship against Baron Corbin, Oba Femi is the favourite to defeat Brock Lesnar in their Hell in a Cell bout, Chad Gable will win his first WWE Intercontinental Championship against champion Penta, and Gunther is predicted to defeat Nick Aldis.

Two Matches Are Coin Tosses

Credit: WWE

Despite creative plans leaning one way in six of the matches shown so far, WrestleVotes added that two bouts remain balanced on a knife-edge.

The interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match and Sami Zayn’s WWE Championship No.1 Contender’s Match against Finn Balor are both understood to remain genuine 50/50 internally, with no outcome currently viewed as the clear frontrunner behind the scenes.

According to the report, both matches remain the subject of internal discussion, making them the most unpredictable contests on the SummerSlam card.

For now, however, as the biggest event of the summer looms large, the picture behind the scenes appears increasingly clear. Six paths appear all but mapped out, while two remaining bouts are still waiting for the final page to be written. It’s also worth noting there are FOUR more matches over the two nights, of which plans for those are also currently unknown.