Man Utd ‘muscle’ into £86m Man City battle as new midfield target unveiled | OneFootball

Manchester United have entered the race for Lille starlet Ayyoub Bouaddi, according to a transfer insider, setting up a huge potential battle with the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Man Utd intend to sign two to three midfielders this summer to completely overhaul their engine room. They have agreed a £35million deal with Atalanta to sign Ederson, but other than that it has largely been a frustrating transfer window so far.

INEOS chiefs have refused to pay inflated fees for their main targets, which has seen Elliot Anderson join City and Mateus Fernandes head to Tottenham Hotspur.

Those moves have forced United to consider alternatives such as Aurelien Tchouameni of Real Madrid and Bournemouth’s Alex Scott.

In an interview with The United Stand, journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed that Morocco World Cup star Bouaddi is another option under consideration at Old Trafford.

“I sense they’ve got other targets ahead of Baleba,” he said. “But it’s a deal they don’t really need to prioritise as much as others, because that is a scenario of a player who wants Man Utd, who has loose personal terms in place from last summer.

“So if they want to do Baleba, they just have to go to Brighton. Above him would be Tchouameni and Alex Scott, if he becomes genuinely available.

“Bouaddi is another really interesting one, Man Utd have muscled their way into that conversation, even though Manchester City are there as well. Bayern and Chelsea are the other ones to watch.

“But with Bouaddi, it might be the case that the preference is given towards clubs that try and sign the player and then send him back to Lille for another season.

Lille want over €75m for new Man Utd target

“Because he’s so young, Lille’s perspective is there’s two deals to be had. The first is €100m (£86m) if you want an immediate signing, let’s see if that price drops.

“The second price is more like €75-80m (£64-68.5m), and that’s for a deal that sends him back on loan, or has a pre-agreement and then has a scenario where you get the player in summer 2027.”

On Wednesday, Jacobs suggested City are leading Arsenal and United in the chase for Bouaddi. It will be interesting to see whether United step up their own interest in the 18-year-old or prioritise the likes of Tchouameni and Scott.

Tchouameni is widely regarded as Michael Carrick and United’s dream signing for the No 6 role. However, there are conflicting reports over whether Real Madrid will let him leave.