Everton linked to Manchester United defender because of strange Dutch rumour

It seems like if Manchester United or Barcelona ever have anyone on the fringes, it’s Everton who is going to be linked. This isn’t entirely without merit, of course. After all, in recent years we have seen Morgan Schneiderlin, Wayne Rooney, Yerry Mina, Lucas Digne, Andre Gomes, Gerard Deulofeu, and if we want to go back a hair further, Darren Gibson from those clubs. According to the Metro, we are linked this time with Marcos Rojo… again.

Here are some comments from the last time we were linked to Rojo. It is really not any better a move now than it was then, and it really does not seem like the kind of thing Marco Silva would be interested in.

One good thing, though, is that I think we can at least figure out where this round of rumours started. As noticed by Sportwitness, a Dutch paper called De Telegraaf with a history of talking to Marcel Brands reported- before quickly deleting- that Brands was looking at a Manchester United player for defensive help. Sportwitness was not sure which United defender it was, but lo and behold Everton has been linked to both Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo this week.

This is just how the rumour mill churns when it comes to English football. It is silly, and it really ought not be this way but it is what it is. There is nothing in recent media reports that suggests to me that Everton has any sort of verified interested in either United defender. In all likelihood, De Telegraaf heard something from a less reliable source and then deleted their article after hearing from Brands it was not happening. Nothing real to see on this one as far as I can tell.