Ex-Prem star dreams of being third Man Utd midfield signing as swap deal is floated | OneFootball

Former Aston Villa star Douglas Luiz is still dreaming of a summer transfer to Man Utd as they continue their search for another midfielder, according to reports.

The Red Devils have signed Andrey Santos (£48m, Chelsea), Karl Darlow (free, Leeds United), Youri Tielemans (£35m, Aston Villa) and Tynan Thompson (£8m, Tottenham) so far this summer.

Santos and Tielemans have been their most important of the summer with Man Utd looking to bring in three midfielders to give Michael Carrick the best chance of continuing his success from the second half of last season.

Atalanta star Ederson had been earmarked as their first midfield signing but that fell through over medical issues and Man Utd still need one more.

A report earlier today insisted that Man Utd are now down to two ‘preferred options’ in their list of midfield targets with Brighton’s Carlos Baleba and Roma’s Manu Kone rising to the top of their list.

Baleba and Kone are apparently seen as sensible investments and would be cheaper than other options currently on the market, like Bournemouth’s Alex Scott or one of Real Madrid duo Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga.

But there is one potential bargain signing still hoping that the Red Devils will sign him this summer with Italian website Tuttoport insisting that Juventus midfielder Luiz holding out for ‘his dream is to join Manchester United’.

At Old Trafford, Luiz – who has had recent loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa – ‘hopes to relaunch the club in grand style’ and sees a potential move back to Brazil ‘as a last resort’.

Man Utd and Juventus could even ‘help each other’ with a swap as the Serie A giants like Joshua Zirkzee and the market now ‘begins to take shape’.

The Athletic reporter Laurie Whitwell revealed on Tuesday that Zirkzee is attracting the interest of several clubs from all around Europe, including Juventus.

Whitwell wrote on The Athletic: ‘Zirkzee, who United might be open to selling, is attracting interest.

‘Juventus have made a check on his circumstances, as have two Premier League clubs. Ajax also enquired on United’s stance over the Dutch forward, but are not expected to pursue a deal amid the arrivals of Marcos Leonardo from Al Hilal and Tolu Arokodare of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Zirkzee scored an excellent goal in a good display against Rosenborg.’

‘There was always a doubt’ Zirkzee move to Man Utd would work out – Gullit

Speaking when Zirkzee was being linked with a move away from Man Utd in January, Netherlands legend Ruud Gullit urged him to leave the Red Devils for the good of his career.

Gullit said: “I saw that Roma maybe wanted to take him and I hope that he will leave.

“For me, there was always a doubt that it was the right decision to go to Manchester United. I think he should have stayed in Serie A. He was doing well with Bologna and I think he should have gone to a better team in Italy.

“For him it would have been much better. Manchester United have to figure out what that vibe is there, because something is wrong there. The energy is not good, it doesn’t feel good at all.

“Look at Scott McTominay. It is unbelievable how well McTominay has done since he left Old Trafford. It’s incredible, it’s fantastic to watch. At United he was more like a 12th man, than he was a player and look how he has flourished, just playing every game is so important.”