Honestly I'm sick to death of all the hot air swirling round about Anthony Gordon and Liverpool. It is getting monotonous and irritating.
I mean, all right there was more than a grain of truth in how it all began but since we have been subjected to a relentless bombardment about our Player of the Year going to the club of his dreams. It has been like the constant beat of a drum.
Offensive on the ears. Like a broken record repeating and repeating what none of us want to hear. Really? Are we one the verge of a catastrophe or just a powerful thought worth giving some oxygen because it is emotive and might turn out to be right?
It can be argued United brought this upon themselves. In the days of mass panic as June 30 was rapidly approaching and United were unable to sell a single asset they got distinctly twitchy and offered Gordon to Liverpool in a desperate attempt to avoid a 10 point deduction following an abuse of FFP rules.
Amanda Staveley in her resignation speech _ a warm and revealing interview after she had reluctantly left us _ admitted she feared we may sell Gordon or Alexander Isak. That is how close we got to what in my opinion would have been self destruction.
However having avoided the need to lose our heads with the sale of Elliot Anderson and Yakuba Minteh the grain of information that United had gone temporarily ga-ga has led to a tsunami of speculation.
Eddie Howe has publicly said he wants to keep Gordon _ but then he wants to keep everyone. From Maxi he has gone through Matt Ritchie and Paul Dummett to Miggy Almiron, Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier stating they are absolutely vital to the cause. Bless him, he wouldn't admit to wanting to sell a player if his left leg fell off!!
However with Gordon we need him desperately if we are to take a significant step forward. Just consider for one fleeting moment (and then bin the thought) what public reaction would be if United's next transfer confirmation right now was to announce the sale of Gordon. It wouldn't be a step backwards. It would be a Michael Jackson moonwalk into oblivion.
I must stress I don't think it is going to happen, not for a moment, but come on let the club above and beyond Eddie nail the speculation. Better still let Gordon nail it. That would end all.
The club are in the driving seat. They have the player under contract. They can say no until everyone is blue in the face. They can tell Liverpool in the public arena that they may as well whistle in a wind tunnel. The fans need reassurance about their blue chip players.
It may look as if United have a ready made replacement in Harvey Barnes just as they have for Kieran Trippier with Tino Livramento but don't even think about it. This is very different. Gordon is a bairn with a huge future ahead of him. Most of Tripps' future is behind him as inevitably happens in football. It's called age.
However selling (the right players) remains very much part of a process of development and United have to be careful. They are at risk of losing literally millions of pounds which even with a fair few fivers stuffed down the back of the settee is hardly the best way to approach the thorny problem of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules.
As things stand come the end of a PL season that kicks off in just a fortnight United are on a loser. They will have a staggering 14 players on free transfers. It other words going for nowt.
So it can reasonably be said that it's now or never if United are to make a coin _ either sell them before the end of the month or, if time runs out, do it in January for a reduced fee. The only alternative to taking a hit is to extend their stay with the offer of a new improved contract.
The 14 split into four distinct camps with four big hitters at major risk. Let us study the list in more detail.
BIG NAME PLAYERS: Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson, Fabian Schar, and Dan Burn.
MEDIUM RISK: Martin Dubravka, Jamaal Lascelles, and Emil Krafth.
THOSE HAPPY TO SEE GO: Ryan Fraser, Jamal Lewis, Mark Gillespie and John Ruddy.
KIDS: Joe White, Jay Turner-Cooke and Max Thompson.
My stance on Tripps and Wilson is pretty well documented but the other two must stay for the coming season. Schar has earned the right to be called a first team regular having enjoyed a fab year last time round while Burn is a terrific club man who is needed even more with Sven Botman and Lascelles out injured until the end of the year. Howe's decision with those two is not about cashing in but whether to offer them new contracts to safeguard the club. I have a feeling he will do just that.
Schar has every right to believe he ought to start against Southampton regardless of United perhaps buying a right sided central defender unlike the purchase of a right winger who would almost certainly got straight into the side. Any new defender has to challenge Schar, a new outside-right automatically jumps ahead of Miggy Almiron and Jacob Murphy or ought to do so.
As for the others Dubravka has to go for his own sake _ United have five senior keepers in Japan for goodness sake _ while Lascelles is no worry long term one way or the other, Fraser has to be shot off to Southampton, and Lewis shot off anywhere.
