MX23RW : Sunday, November 24 20:40:12| >> :60:1482:1482:

Aidy Boothroyd: 'Aaron Wan-Bissaka's head has been turned by Man Utd interest'

Boothroyd: 'Aaron Wan-Bissaka's head has been turned by Man Utd interest'
© Reuters
Wan-Bissaka has been a Manchester United target this summer.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka's head is "bound to" have been turned by Manchester United's interest, according to England Under-21s boss Aidy Boothroyd.

The Crystal Palace defender appears to be closing in on a move to Old Trafford but suffered a nightmare against France on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old's injury-time own goal condemned the Young Lions to an opening Euro 2019 defeat in Italy as he failed to impress in the 2-1 loss.

Talks between United and Palace over a deal, likely to be over £50million, are reportedly ongoing and Boothroyd admitted the speculation may have affected Wan-Bissaka.

"For a young player who all he knows is Crystal Palace academy and Crystal Palace it would be daft not to say that in some way he must think about it," said Boothroyd, ahead of Friday's must-win game against Romania.

"I would not be truthful if I told you anything other than that. What I will say is because he doesn't say too much you don't get to find out too much. Aaron keeps things to himself.

"He is a very private guy. When that speculation is flying around it is bound to turn your head. But having said all of that had he not scored the own goal we probably wouldn't be having this conversation."

Boothroyd also hinted he was happier with the way Everton conducted themselves when Jordan Pickford joined the Toffees from Sunderland for £30million just two days before England's Euro 2017 opener.

Jordan Pickford played under Aidy Boothroyd for the Under-21s
Jordan Pickford, left, played under Aidy Boothroyd for the Under-21s (Nick Potts/PA)

"In Poland last time we had a similar situation with Jordan, a lot of speculation," he said.

"Everton agreed the deal, they worked very closely with us and were very respectful in terms of not getting involved in our build-up.

"In the end it was done in a hotel down the road away from everything else, all the medicals got done.

"If that was to happen we certainly wouldn't be blocking anybody, we'd be talking to people and seeing if we could help out – provided both clubs were happy with it.

"If that happens we'll oblige and if it doesn't suit us we'll find a time when it does."

The boss offered few hints over whether Wan-Bissaka would start on Friday, with England third in Group C after Romania thumped Croatia 4-1 in their opener.

Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin will start up front in Cesena with England needing three points to stand a chance of reaching the semi-finals.

But Boothroyd refused to discuss what the Young Lions may need to do to qualify.

He said: "There could be all sorts of connotations by the end of it. There are tight margins. If we had stopped our game on 86 minutes we'd be saying what a good performance it was.

"Incidents happen and you have to deal with them. You recognise the time to go in and get things moving and other times where you say nothing and let the group do it themselves. The focus this week has been very good."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Nick Mashiter, Press Association Sport, Rimini');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '5a73b354-32dd-46df-a08a-5a4cd65cb0f0');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Boothroyd believes Manchester United interest is \u2018bound to\u2019 affect Wan-Bissaka'});

ID:362516: cacheID:362516:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:14789:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Gareth Bale in action for Wales on June 11, 2019
Read Next:
Wednesday's papers: Gareth Bale, Christian Eriksen, Aaron Wan-Bissaka
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
6pm
Vikings
@
Bears
6pm
Lions
@
Colts
6pm
Patriots
@
Dolphins
6pm
Buccaneers
@
Giants
6pm
Chiefs
@
Panthers
6pm
Titans
@
Texans
6pm
Cowboys
@
Washington
9.05pm
Broncos
@
Raiders
9.25pm
49ers
@
Packers
9.25pm
Cardinals
@
Seahawks
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!