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Alas, the final nail in the coffin seems to have been driven into rumors of Jerome Boateng transferring to Manchester United. Per a report by SportBild, the Bayern Munich center-back informed Jose Mourinho personally, by phone, that he will not be joining Manchester United and thanked him for the interest. Speculation of a potential move to the Premier League club spiked not long after the final whistle had gone between the two clubs in their friendly at the Allianz Arena on Sunday, but that ship has now sailed.
Additionally, SportBild suggests that conversations between Boateng and new manager Niko Kovac had a lot to do with the center-back’s decision to stay. Kovac apparently informed Boateng that he is a big part of his plans for the club in his first season as manager. With so little time left before the transfer window closes in England (Thursday, August 9th), and Bayern’s limited options at center-back, it’s not too surprising that the move failed to materialize.
When rumors first started circulating, it was reported that Bayern were valuating Boateng at around €50m and were unwilling to entertain offers of anything less than that. United reportedly offered offered just €25m, which, if true, likely also influenced Boateng’s decision to reject the offer.
Exclusive: the transfer of @JB17Official threatens to fail. @FCBayern wants twice the offer of @ManUtd The details now on @SPORTBILD & @bild
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) August 7, 2018
Although the Manchester United rumors can be laid to rest, there’s still another moving part for Boateng. Thomas Tuchel has also expressed interest in bringing Boateng to Paris Saint-Germain this summer for a considerable fee; unlike United, PSG have until the end of August to strike a deal with Bayern. While the tone of Boateng’s Manchester United refusal in culmination with his conversation with Kovac suggests that he may stay at Bayern, the option to move to PSG is still, technically, on the table — not to mention the fact that PSG is probably prepared to offer more money than United were.
Torben Hoffmann of Sky Germany:
Kann die Info @cfbayern bestätigen! Es gab ein Telefonat zwischen @JB17Official und #Mourinho
— Torben Hoffmann (@Sky_Torben) August 7, 2018
Jeromé hat aus sportlichen Gründen abgesagt!
Für ihn fällt die Entscheidung zwischen @FCBayern (sehr gute Gespräche mit #Kovac) oder @PSG_inside @SkySportDE @SkySportNewsHD
Can confirm the info from Christian Falk! There was a telephone call between Boateng and Mourinho
Jeromé [sic, lol] declined for competitive reasons!
For him, the decision is between FC Bayern (very good conversations with Kovac) and PSG