Man Utd ‘prepare offer’ for £35m Ligue 1 award winner as Anderson alternative | OneFootball

Manchester United are ‘preparing an offer’ for Lens midfielder Mamadou Sangare after ‘literally falling under his spell’, according to reports in France.

United have already agreed a deal to sign Brazilian star Ederson from Atalanta to replace compatriot Casemiro at Old Trafford, but reports suggest the INEOS bosses want to land at least one more midfielder this summer as Uruguayan Manuel Ugarte is also set to depart the club.

Elliot Anderson is among their top targets, but the 23-year-old prefers a move to City, who have made a second ‘verbal offer’ to Nottingham Forest for the England international’s services.

David Ornstein revealed on Wednesday that ‘the bid is worth £106million with potential add-ons taking it in excess of £120m’, but The Athletic journalist reports that ‘Forest want the fixed fee to consider a sale of the England international to eclipse the £125m British record Liverpool paid Newcastle United for Alexander Isak last summer’.

After confirming City’s bid for Anderson, journalist Ben Jacobs revealed that United have dropped out of the race for their ‘dream target’ as a result, revealing their attention will now turn to three alternatives.

He wrote on X: ‘Manchester United view the cost as too high despite seeing Anderson as their dream target. They are in talks with Matheus Fernandes. Alex Scott and Carlos Baleba remains other names on their radar.’

But French outlet Foot Mercato claim that the Red Devils have also added Lens star Sangare to their midfield shortlist and are ‘preparing an offer’ for the 23-year-old.

The Mali international moved to the Ligue 1 side from Rapid Vienna for £7m last summer and made 39 appearances across all competitions, contributing three goals and four assists on his way to winning the Marc-Vivien Foé award for the best African player in the championship.

As a box-to-box midfielder renowned for his energy, the report describes him as ‘a real monster in the middle of the field’.

“I love going to defend against the opponent,” Sangare recently told RFI. “I really made progress on that… I really like this aspect of my game, because it really makes me happy to go get balls.”

The repot claims ‘a dozen European clubs’ including ‘several from the Premier League’ are keen on Sangare, but ‘Manchester United are particularly determined’ to win the race for Sangare, who’s valued by Transfermarkt at €40m [£35m] but is expected to leave for more if the expected bidding war ensues this summer.

‘Impossible’ to stop exit

Having been ‘seduced’, United are ‘preparing an offer’ for the recent winner of the Coupe de France and it’s claimed Lens accept the it will be ‘impossible’ to stop him leaving this summer.

The report adds: