Manchester United are said to be interested in four players ahead of the summer transfer window.
According to reports, Manchester United have identified four players to sign in the summer transfer window following a meeting between a number of senior figures including Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, John Murtough, and Mike Phelan. The Red Devils need a few additions in order to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title next season, and they could spend big in the coming months to do so.
After a frustrating season in which Solskjaer's wait for his first trophy as manager was extended by at least another year, United finished 12 points behind their cross-city rivals.
The club squandered their most recent chance to win a major trophy on Wednesday when they were defeated by Villarreal in the Europa League final after a tense penalty shoot-out.
Solskjaer is known to be interested in a number of signings ahead of next season, but the result in Gdansk will have heightened the Norwegian's desire to exploit the transfer market in the coming months. He is thought to be interested in bringing in a central defender and a winger, with United's need for a strikerless pressing as a result of Edinson Cavani's decision to sign a new one-year contract earlier this month.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Solskjaer and Murtough met on Thursday to discuss their summer recruitment strategy, with the pair eventually agreeing on four priority targets with the potential to move the club forward.
According to the report, the quartet in question is Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane, Pau Torres, and Declan Rice, but it remains to be seen whether United will fund moves for all four players.
The former has long been a fan of the Red Devils, and they are expected to re-sign him this summer after failing to do so a year ago.
United was unwilling to meet Dortmund's nine-figure asking price for the England star, but he is believed to be available for a reduced fee of £80 million this time around, which could see him finally make the switch to Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, Varane and Torres are being considered for the long-term centre-back position alongside Harry Maguire.
The Real Madrid star has been heavily linked with a move to United, with his current contract set to expire at the end of next season, while Torres excelled in Wednesday's final and is said to have a £43 million release clause in his contract with Villarreal.
Rice is another long-term target for the 20-time Premier League champions, who are said to have been monitoring the West Ham United midfielder's situation for well over a year.
However, he will almost certainly cost the Red Devils an arm and a leg this summer, as the Hammers are unwilling to let go of their prized asset.
Although Cavani's extension means that United will not be forced to sign a striker as their top priority, the report also claims that Solskjaer has refused to rule out signing a new No 9.
Tottenham is looking for a replacement. Harry Kane has recently been linked with a move to Old Trafford, but given his reported £200 million price tag and City's position as frontrunners in the race for his signature, it appears that a deal could be difficult to pull off.
Solskjaer admitted earlier this month that he hopes to make at least two signings this summer, but he emphasized the progress made during his tenure as manager, implying that United are on the right track in terms of competing for silverware.
"I'm hoping that we'll be able to strengthen with a few, two or three players that we definitely need to challenge higher up the table," he said.
"We're still too far behind to expect it to happen on its own. We're planning, as usual, we've had, it's not like it's the end of the season and let's see what happens, that's an ongoing process.
"We're taking a look at the squad to see who will stay and who will leave.
"We're not where we want to be; we have ambitions to move one place higher up, but it's been steady improvement, we've improved steadily, we've improved steadily, we've improved steadily, third last season, second this season with more points."
No comments:
Post a Comment