Man Utd in ‘advanced talks’ to sign Newcastle star for £69m as Romano gives update | OneFootball

Man Utd are now in ‘advanced talks’ to sign Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes but Real Madrid are interested too, according to reports.

The Red Devils spent most of their money in the summer on Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha as they looked to improve their forward line.

Strengthening their attack was crucial as only four clubs scored fewer goals than Man Utd last term – but the Red Devils hierarchy were criticised for failing to bring in a midfielder.

It had been a miserable season at Man Utd until INEOS took the decision to sack Ruben Amorim and replace him with Michael Carrick until the end of the season.

Since then, Man Utd have risen to third in the Premier League table and have won seven, drawn one and won one of Carrick’s nine matches in charge.

Carrick has been pairing Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro in midfield in recent weeks but the latter has already announced he will be leaving on a free transfer at the end of the season.

As well as Casemiro, it is likely that Manuel Ugarte will be on the exit ramp over the summer and it’s expected that Man Utd will invest in at least a couple of midfielders of different profiles.

Newcastle Guimaraes was recently linked to Man Utd as the player who Casemiro had recommended to the Red Devils as his possible replacement.

And now Reuters have claimed that Man Utd are ‘in advanced talks’ to sign Guimaraes from Newcastle ‘for around 80 million euros (£69m)’ but that ‘renewed interest ​from Real Madrid threatens to complicate the proposed move’.

It is understood that ‘initial contacts suggested that ​mutual interest could smooth the path towards an agreement’ but that ‘Real Madrid’s sudden ​move for the midfielder may have altered the landscape significantly’.

The report adds: ‘With ​United pushing to conclude a deal and ​Real circling once more, Guimaraes could yet find himself at the centre of a transfer tug ​of war as the next window approaches.’

Newcastle team-mate Sandro Tonali is also being heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford and Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that the Red Devils are “following the situation”.

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “What I can tell you guys on Sandro Tonali is quite clear. […] Two clubs from the Premier League have called for Sandro Tonali to be informed of the situation.

“Manchester City and Manchester United are both following the situation on Tonali. So there is a lot of interest. From Arsenal, from Man City and from Man United.

“Then, in terms of admiration, in terms of interest, there is also Juventus. It’s been almost one year and a half that Juventus have been trying to find a solution to sign Sandro Tonali, but it’s at the moment very, very complicated for Juventus financially. It looks like a very difficult, unlikely deal.

“And so for Tonali now, genuine interest from other Premier League clubs. Again, we know how complicated it is to negotiate with Newcastle. It’s still early stages with conversations, with May United, with Manchester City.”