Man Utd submit request to PL rivals with INEOS ‘very keen’ on January deal after ‘making contact’ | OneFootball

According to reports, Manchester United have submitted a request to Premier League rivals West Ham United as they are ‘very keen’ to sign Lucas Paqueta.

Man Utd‘s poor recruitment has been one of their biggest failings since club legend Sir Alex Ferguson retired, though they did buck that trend in the summer.

Club chiefs recognised that a huge squad overhaul was required after Ruben Amorim‘s side finished 15th in the Premier League and failed to win a trophy in 2024/25, so they had a very busy summer.

For most of the window, Man Utd focused on overhauling their attack as they invested heavily as one of the biggest spenders in Europe to sign Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, while they also landed Senne Lammens to replace Andre Onana as the club’s No.1 goalkeeper.

United reportedly had a limited budget at the start of the summer, though they raised funds through sanctioning several notable exits that were finalised on their terms. Permanent deals or future fees via loans with buy clauses were secured as they offloaded Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony.

This has reaped rewards on the pitch in recent weeks as Man Utd have hit form to ease the pressure on Amorim.

For the first time under Amorim, Man Utd won back-to-back Premier League games by beating Sunderland and Liverpool before following that up with a victory against Brighton at the weekend.

Lammens, Sesko, Mbeumo and Cunha have made a huge impact in recent weeks as Man Utd appear to be on track, but they still have areas to improve in the coming transfer windows.

It is widely known that they need to sign a new No.6, but a report from a respected account on X with a ‘team of five elite reporters’ has revealed that they are keen on West Ham star Lucas Paqueta, who has reportedly made it clear that he wants to leave the relegation candidates in January.

They tweeted: “Exclusive: Manchester United have asked for more details from West Ham regarding Lucas Paqueta transfer valuation.

“We understand @ManUtd are very keen to make the deal in January at fair market valuation.

“The contact was made on Wednesday lunchtime.”

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365… 👉 Man Utd transfer to be ‘finalised soon’ as Romano reveals Amorim verdict on two Red Devils stars 👉 ‘No jokes’ about Man Utd amid considered opinions on 20 Premier League clubs 👉 Ranking the 20 biggest PL summer transfers from Liverpool dud to Spurs ace via other Liverpool flops

Regarding the No.6 department, Carlos Baleba remains one of their options after a summer deal did not go through and former coach Benni McCarthy thinks he would be a “perfect” signing for the Red Devils.

“I think Carlos Baleba from Brighton. I think United needs more muscle. They need legs. They need power. And Baleba would be perfect,” McCarthy told MyBettingSites.

“Alongside Kobbie, Casemiro, he’d be ideal with either of them. With Mainoo, both of them are so young, the future could not get any brighter. That would be my ideal.

“They need explosiveness. They need a beast in that midfield because Casimiro is now past his best.

“He’s ageing, so the club needs to start thinking about life after Casimiro, when he eventually leaves Man United, and then he leaves the team in capable hands.”