The Rumour Mill - Benzema, Alves, Fabiano

Well, here we are again. With the summer approaching transfer speculation swings into overdrive. You can't move without hitting a daft rumour and it's getting crowded even on the vast plains of the Internet.

Yet some names appear more often than others and though it is not strictly scientific we decided to take a closer look at them.

First (and second) to start with is Sevilla's duo. The two Brazilians (both with Spanish nationalities as well so no work permit problems), Daniel Alves and Luis Fabiano are heavily linked with United. The former is an attacking full-back, the latter is a striker. Sevilla hopes to keep them both; club president Jose Maria del Nido announced that they rejected offers of 25 million euros for Alves and that he's hopeful of coming to an agreement with Luis Fabiano.

Well, to start with Alves, it's absolutely ridiculous I think. It's not very Fergie-like, dishing out huge money for a player with a big ego and a terrible disciplinary record. At one time this season Alves was sent off in two consecutive games... and it is not even the biggest problem. The biggest problem is that though he's a defender (theoretically) his one glaring weakness is defending. It's like signing a striker who can't score a goal to save his life - but Dirk Kuyt at least did not cost Ł20m.

Fabiano is a more realistic option and as Spanish top scorer he's hardly some hopeless wannabe Pele. The fans would probably choose Karim Benzema: the Lyon hotshot is a huge talent and at 20 he's got plenty of time to improve. Yet his hefty price tag will probably throw off United of his pursuit especially as he's already stated he wanted to stay in Lyon for another year. That does not prevent tabloids claiming we're leading the race for him but oh well.

Mikael Silvestre is heading for Bordeaux but they believe it won't be easy to sign him. Well, it will be easier than to believe that United are really after Inter's Suazo: The guy is breathtakingly fast but once he gets to the ball it becomes clear that his main asset is his only asset. Pace is his only weapon, otherwise he's distinctly average. We could play Evra up front then: he's quick and much more skilful than Suazo...