Man Utd find £26m Kone solution to decrease £51m asking price in major swap deal | OneFootball

Man Utd could use Marcus Rashford as part of negotiations to sign France midfielder Manu Kone from Serie A side Roma this summer, according to reports.

The Red Devils have already completed the signings of two midfielders this summer with Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans joining from Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively.

Man Utd are looking to sign one more midfielder before the summer transfer window closes, while they have also made a left-winger and full-back priority targets.

The Red Devils had a deal lined up for Atalanta midfielder Ederson as their third midfielder but that deal fell through over concerns about the player’s fitness.

Kone has emerged as one of their main targets for Man Utd this summer after his impressive performances for France at the World Cup.

The €60m (£51m) asking price is currently proving a bit of a stumbling block for Man Utd as Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport insists that ‘not everyone in Manchester is convinced by the potential investment’.

A deal at that price point has ‘not received unanimous backing from United’s hierarchy’ and the deal now faces ‘a period of consideration rather than a definitive halt’.

Contact with Kone’s representatives has been ‘positive’ and ‘one potential solution could involve the inclusion of Marcus Rashford’ after the England international’s move to Barcelona fell through.

Rashford had a €30m (£26m) buyout clause in his loan deal at the Camp Nou that allowed the Catalan giants the opportunity to make the deal permanent in the summer, but they have not taken Man Utd up on the offer.

And now Gazzetta Dello Sport claims that Rashford has been ‘offered’ in a potential deal for Kone – but his ‘colossal salary’ would be the ‘major hurdle’ to any possible swap.

Jacobs ranks Man Utd midfield options

Ben Jacobs recently ranked the possibility of four different midfielders joining Man Utd this summer as the Red Devils look for that third deal.

Jacobs said on The United Stand: “Yeah, I think Alex Scott is a high priority, but it’s just a high price, so you have to weigh those two things against each other, and we’ll wait and see whether Manchester United formally enter that race.

“Bournemouth had actually had a call from Manchester United [for Scott] before that Chelsea bid.

“He’s been looked at by Arsenal, Chelsea as well, even though they prioritised that bid for Alex Scott, but no real headway because the player was obviously at the World Cup, so we’re going to have to wait and see how that develops. But again, he’s much higher on the list.”

Jacobs adds: “Lower down is Tyler Adams, and at the moment Carlos Baleba is not to be discounted.

“And of all of the names, it probably would be fair to say that Aurelien Tchouameni would be right near the top of the list, but again, that is 1,000% irrelevant if the player is going to stay at the football club.

“And again, I come back to what I said before: he’s already agreed a new deal with Real Madrid.”