Angel Di Maria to Bayern Munich: The reasons why Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben will not be joining Manchester United

Blockbuster move wrongly attributed to German newspaper Bild

(Getty Images)

Manchester United were linked with a sensational switch deal for Bayern Munich duo Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben in the German press overnight.

Except they were not.

A story, credited to German newspaper Bild, linked the pair with a swap deal for British record signing Angel Di Maria, who underwent a terrible first season under Louis van Gaal last year.

The story, although outlandish, appeared to make some sense. Pep Guardiola recently talking about how much he rated Di Maria and the German giants were linked with a move for the Argentinian by real sports reporters.

Manchester United being previously interested in Thomas Muller and also Van Gaal urging Arjen Robben to join him at Old Trafford last summer.

But unfortunately for all concerned, the story was a fake.

It first generated on Twitter by the user Uli Becker, who claimed to be a reporter for the paper; Uli Becker does not exist (at least in this sense) and the Tweet and then the account was later deleted.

Furthermore, both Muller, who has played for the club since he was 11, and Robben have reiterated their desire to stay at the club numerous times.

The pair are two of Guardiola's key men and among the first names on the team-sheet, with Muller scoring 21 goals and adding 14 assists in 50 matches last season and Robben adding 19 goals and nine assists in an injury-hit campaign.