Monday brings a three headed monster of Manchester United transfer talk. Part one covered Anthony Martial, part two was all about Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Eric Bailly. And here in part three we will focus on Sofyan Amrabat, Fred and Donny van de Beek.
In other words, this post is all about a midfield makeover.
United have already gone over budget for the summer transfer window, having signed midfielder Mason Mount from Chelsea, goalkeeper Andre Onana from Inter Milan and striker Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta, for a combined £165 million ($209m).
In order to get Amrabat, who they have been keen on for some time, they’ll need to sell off some of the fringe players.
The Fiorentina midfielder and Morocco international could potentially fit in perfect with what manager Erik ten Hag likes to do, but Old Trafford needs to really start selling surplus players in order to sign Amrabat.
Fred, a 30-year-old Brazilian defensive midfielder acquired from Shaktar Donetsk in 2018, is reportedly drawing interest from Fulham, although the southwest London club has yet to make a concrete offer, according to the BBC.
Clubs from Turkey are said to be interested in Fred as well.
Shifting gears to Van de Beek, the Manchester Evening News reports that the Dutchman’s camp is in advanced talks with Spanish club Real Sociedad.
A £35m signing from Ajax in 2020, DVDB has played a lot this summer preseason, but he’s not in the mix at all, when it comes to getting major minutes in the defensive midfield.
As for the latest on the Amrabat pursuit, Give Me Sport has more on that here.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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