United and Ipswich agree Dias deal
Manchester United and Ipswich Town have today agreed a deal that will see Portuguese international Ruben Dias come to Old Trafford with England international John Stones and Grant Gustin lookalike Santi Mina going in the other direction to Portman Road along with a hefty amount of cash.
Manchester United manager Damien said the following:
"We know it was a hell of a lot to pay for Ruben - a deal with a lot of risk for us. If Dias doesn't move clubs next window, his chances of surpassing 90 are slim to zero and he has no versatility in terms of playing position. Ipswich Town are getting two hugely versatile players that will add a lot to their squad, increasing their chance of survival next season along with a fair bit of cash to further invest in the squad and that is priceless. This is a deal that took a while, but we are happy that the Ipswich manager realised the great benefits to him of this agreement.
"We want to make another signing, but that looks unlikely despite great effort on our part. Mansfield Town have been transformed by the deal we made for Sancho a few seasons ago, and are still benefiting from it to this day with them being able to exchange other players involved in that deal to strengthen their squad even further. The offers we have made to clubs over the past few weeks would, by no exaggeration, see them transformed from lower half teams into top four contenders and to me it is a pity that they don't see that as they hold great sentimental value for the players they do have. These words don't apply to all teams - for some, I can completely understand why they don't want to do business - but for others it is a mystery. If we aren't able to make any further signings, we will go on happy with the squad we currently have.
"Welcome to the squad, Ruben. We will see you in training tomorrow."