Man Utd on cusp of sublime £116m double signing as first deal ‘done’ | OneFootball

Manchester United are moving towards a statement double deal for Atalanta’s Ederson and West Ham United star Mateus Fernandes, according to reports.

Man Utd planned several months ago to sign two new midfielders this summer as they wave goodbye to Casemiro and put Manuel Ugarte up for sale. INEOS chiefs would have loved to capture Elliot Anderson, but rivals Manchester City are in pole position for the Nottingham Forest playmaker.

United have moved on quickly from their disappointment over Anderson and are seemingly going all out for Ederson and Fernandes instead.

SportItalia claim Ederson’s switch to Old Trafford can be considered ‘done’ as there is a ‘full agreement’ in place between the two clubs.

Atalanta have accepted a bid worth an initial €48million plus €5m in bonuses, taking the total package to €53m (£46m).

The deal is being ‘finalised’ and Ederson is ‘ready to fly’ to England to officially join Michael Carrick’s side.

Our friends at TEAMtalk have confirmed the Brazilian has ‘said yes’ to signing for United, with the Red Devils ‘increasingly serious’ about getting the move over the line.

Per various reports, United made a ‘verbal offer’ on Friday and have since been in negotiations with Atalanta.

When asked why Ederson missed Atalanta’s final game of the season against Fiorentina, head coach Raffaele Palladino replied: “It was a choice agreed with the player because there is something happening on the transfer market.

“The fact that a player like him is being followed by such an important club should be a source of pride.”

Man Utd reporter Samuel Luckhurst, who now works for The Sun, has claimed INEOS have also held a new round of talks with West Ham as they accelerate their pursuit of Fernandes.

There have even been suggestions that Fernandes is giving Man Utd priority over other interested clubs such as Arsenal, having decided on Old Trafford as his ‘dream’ destination.

The 21-year-old idolises United captain Bruno Fernandes and wants to star alongside his Portuguese compatriot for the club.

Man Utd advance towards Ederson, Fernandes deals

TEAMtalk reported on Wednesday that United have brushed their transfer rivals aside to emerge as frontrunners for the younger Fernandes, who will cost £70-80m if West Ham stay up.

If the Irons are relegated, then that asking price is expected to drop ‘dramatically’.

When asked about the situation earlier this week, The Guardian journalist Jacob Steinberg said: “There’s quite a few clubs in for him. The information I had this week was if he were to stay at any club in England, then the place he’d be most likely to go is United.

“There are some links there, the biggest one being Kyle Macaulay, who was at West Ham briefly as their recruitment chief, and he brought Fernandes to West Ham last summer.

“He left when Graham Potter was sacked and turns up at United. You also have Jason Wilcox, with Fernandes being an ex-Southampton player and Wilcox’s history at Southampton.”

Gianluca Di Marzio claimed recently that United are pushing for the double capture of Ederson and Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali. However, they look more likely to sign Ederson and Fernandes as things stand.