Man Utd can ‘take advantage’ of ‘price drop’ for top target amid Real Madrid interest | OneFootball

Manchester United are poised to “take advantage” of a “price drop” to sign Mateus Fernandes, who’s also attracting interest from Real Madrid this summer.

The Red Devils have already agreed a deal with Atalanta to sign Ederson for £35m this summer but are on the lookout for further midfield recruits as Casemiro has also departed at the end of his contract and with Uruguay international Manuel Ugarte also expected to leave the club.

Fernandes, who only joined West Ham last summer from Southampton for £40m, has emerged as one of their top targets and reports earlier this week claimed the 21-year-old’s representatives ‘remain confident of a deal’ which will see him land at Old Trafford.

That’s despite interest from Jose Mourinho, who will be the new Real Madrid manager after Florentino Perez beat off competition from Enrique Riqulme to extend his tenure as president of Los Blancos.

Mourinho is said to have made a personal request for Madrid to sign Fernandes this summer.

West Ham have reportedly slapped an £80m price tag on the midfielder, who wants out after the Hammers suffered relegation from the Premier League.

But former West Ham scout Mick Brown insists “that price tag is going to drop” as the we get deeper into the transfer window and as Fernandes pushes to leave, and he expects United “to take advantage”.

“It’s going to be hard for West Ham to keep Fernandes,” Brown told Football Insider.

“Ideally for them, they would keep hold of him and he’d be a huge part of the team that gets them back up into the Premier League.

“But it’s not as easy at that, it’s extremely difficult when clubs get relegated and more often than not they’re forced to let them go because they can’t afford to keep them.

“I’m told they’ve set a big price tag on Fernandes, but it’s sticking to that price tag that’s going to be a problem. He’s not going to want to stick around in the Championship.

“He was one of their best players in the Premier League and by all accounts did a very good job, so there’s going to be top-level interest.

“As the window goes on and it becomes clear he wants to move on, that price tag is going to drop, and a club like Man United could look to take advantage of that.

“United are certainly among his admirers, so they’ll be keeping an eye on his situation and could make a move if a deal becomes realistic.”