Manchester United give up on landing playmaker

Manchester United are close to tying Javier Hernandez and Antonio Valencia to new contracts but increasingly losing hope when it comes to bringing a top central midfielder to Old Trafford, with a potential deal for Wesley Sneijder or Samir Nasri described as ‘dead.' David Gill, the United chief executive, believes there will be no more signings this summer unless the two clubs involved — Internazionale and Arsenal indicate otherwise when United return from their pre-season tour of the US. The same also applies to Tottenham Hotspur, with Luka Modric, another player Ferguson covets. Asked about Sneijder, Gill said: "We didn't progress that one. I'm not doing anything on anything at the moment, so they are all dead at the moment." Gill said the situation could change before the end of the transfer window. "The important point is that you never know. I've been around in football long enough to know things change quickly. Somebody may become available and we can then say we are interested." However, United are working on the basis that their transfer business is done for the summer, with £50m (Dh183.6 million) spent on Ashley Young, David de Gea and Phil Jones. United's suspicion is, if Nasri were to leave, he would favour Manchester City because of the higher wages, while talks for Sneijder never developed beyond preliminary contact. Gill denied reports he had met Inter officials. Instead, the club have turned their attention towards agreeing new deals with several key players.