Manchester United and Sir Jim Ratcliffe reportedly have a huge bid ready to sign one star this summer.
Man Utd’s transfer plans under Ratcliffe
The Red Devils and Ratcliffe may well be planning for the upcoming summer transfer window, which will be their first to make their mark at Old Trafford.
Whether or not Erik ten Hag is still in charge remains to be seen, but a number of new faces may well be required, with United struggling for large parts of the current campaign.
Man Utd want 4-2-3-1 manager who plays “sublime football” to oust Ten Hag
The Red Devils have concrete interest in him.
ByHenry Jackson
Ratcliffe has already addressed his likely transfer policy, hinting that the club may not throw money around. When asked about the possibility of signing either Jude Bellingham or Kylian Mbappe, he said:
“He’s a great footballer (Bellingham) but it’s not where our focus is. The solution isn’t spending a lot of money on a couple of great players. They’ve done that, if you look at the last 10 years. The first thing we need to do is get the right people in the right boxes, managing and organising the club. We must make sure we get recruitment right, such a vital part of running a football club is getting recruitment right, finding new players.”
On the idea of signing Mbappe, who is on course to join Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain over the summer, Ratcliffe then added:
“I’d rather find the next Mbappe, rather than spend a fortune to buy success. It’s not that clever to buy Mbappe, anybody could figure that one out.”
However, one player who has been heavily linked with a big-money move to Old Trafford is Benfica midfielder Joao Neves. Recent reports suggested that Ratcliffe was set to approve a record-breaking offer of more than £100m to sign the 19-year-old, and there has now been a new development.
Man Utd bid ready for Joao Neves
According to reports from Portugal relayed by Sport Witness, Man Utd have more than €100m ready to convince the Eagles to sell Neves, who is seen as a priority target in Manchester.
In fact, it could be a club record move over €105m (£90m), with the story adding that there was due to be a Red Devils official in attendance on Tuesday night for Benfica’s clash with Sporting CP.
Something which could also sweeten a deal for Neves is a permanent exit for United defender Alvaro Carreras, who is on loan at Benfica. There is thought to be a transfer on the cards between United and the Eagles in the summer for Carreras.
United would have liked what they saw from Neves on Tuesday evening, with the youngster playing the full 90 minutes and recording a 7.5/10 SofaScore match rating.
Match rating
7.5/10
Accurate passes
57/63
Key passes
2
Duels won
10/17
Tackles
5
Benfica drew 2-2 with their rivals but were knocked out 4-3 on aggregate in the Taca de Portugal semi-final. Neves’ days with Benfica could well be numbered, and by the look of things, a bid from Manchester could arrive sooner rather than later.
