Manchester United latest: Including Baines and Hernandez

Manchester United are set to make a last ditch attempt to sign Everton left-back Leighton Baines, report ESPN this evening. After loaning Fabio to QPR, United are short of cover for Patrice Evra in the position. Baines is currently scheduled to line up against the  Red Devils on Monday night when they face Everton. However Everton's need to sell has decreased after cashing in on Jack Rodwell by selling him to Manchester City earlier this week.

Chelsea have made an enquiry for Javier Hernandez, according to reports. The Mexican has fallen down the pecking order in the wake of Van Persie's arrival, but United have refused the London club's advances, whose search for a striker continues.

Robin Van Persie has completed his transfer from Arsenal to Manchester United for £24m and described the club as a ‘perfect match’. Van Persie took part in his first training session in Manchester today and speaking afterwards told how the ‘little boy inside’ motivated his desire to move to United. He continued to speak highly of the club and revealed his excitement at playing with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

Rio Ferdinand has been fined £45,000 for his ‘choc-ice’ retweet aimed at Ashley Cole. The FA found the player guilty of improper conduct on Twitter for his promotion of a jibe at Cole for his part in John Terry’s racism trial in court. The FA did note however his positive contribution and use of Twitter was considered when issuing the fine.

According to reports in Russia, Zenit St Petersburg have made a bid for United winger Nani. R-Sport revealed that the Russian club are looking to take advantage of Nani’s possible discontent at the club following the arrival of Robin Van Persie that may see him play fewer games in the course of the coming season. Last month it also emerged that the club were struggling to reach an agreement on a new contract for the 25-year-old Portuguese international, which will have encouraged Zenit in their approach for the player. 

United have announced their provisional squad for the opening game of the Premier League season away at Everton on Monday. Robin Van Persie goes straight into the squad as does fellow new arrival Shinji Kagawa and both could make their debuts on Monday night. The squad also sees a return for Nemanja Vidic following injury as one of only two fit central defenders along with Rio Ferdinand.

Provisional squad: De Gea, Lindegaard, Rafael, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Valencia, Nani, Scholes, Carrick, Anderson, Cleverley, Kagawa, Powell, Giggs, Young, Rooney, Van Persie, Welbeck, Hernandez, Berbatov, Macheda.

image: © wonker

Tomo Taka

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Tomo Taka is a young writer who seeks out insightful stories from the world of sport. He looks to analyse and speculate on relevant sporting topics and in doing so capture the story from a unique angle. Tomo's main interests are football, NFL and Formula One and he has a firm grasp of all other sports. As he makes his first forays into writing, he hopes he can entertain and interest the site's readership and offer a captivating view of the day's sporting stories.