Manchester United transfer news: Ezequiel Garay Old Trafford switch unlikely

Central defender is unlikely to leave Benfica this summer

EZEQUIEL GARAY (Getty Images)

Manchester United appear less likely to sign the Benfica central defender Ezequiel Garay, according to sources in Portugal who now believe the 26-year-old Argentine will stay with the club.

United are known to have been monitoring the player or months though the interest appears to have cooled in the defender, a member of last seasons’ Europa League final team. There has been no contact in recent weeks, according to the Portuguese sources.

David Moyes, who yesterday officially announced his backroom team - Steve Round as his assistant manager, Chris Woods as his goalkeeping coach and Jimmy Lumsden as coach – is thought unlikely to hold talks today with Wayne Rooney, his agent Paul Stretford and new United chief executive Ed Woodward. That means that his strategy is to wait until the squad return to training tomorrow, rather than calling the striker back early to continue a dialogue which he is though has already to have started informally, through a phone call.