Amorim talks put Man Utd in ‘pole position’ for £67m star but Gyokeres says ‘no’ to transfer
New Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim has put the Red Devils in ‘pole position’ to sign Sporting Lisbon defender Ousmane Diomande, according to reports.
The Red Devils made five signings in the summer transfer window as they looked to give Erik ten Hag their full support after deciding to keep him on over the summer.
Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro and Noussair Mazraoui all joined before the end of the summer market but they have yet to have the impact the Man Utd hierarchy and fans were hoping.
Ten Hag was sacked after winning just three of the Red Devils’ opening nine Premier League matches with Amorim replacing him at the beginning of November.
Man Utd interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy added another four points to their Premier League total before leaving the club last week.
And Amorim grabbed his first point in his first match in a 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town on Sunday with an Omari Hutchinson strike cancelling out a second-minute opener from Marcus Rashford.
There has already been plenty of speculation over potential new signings at Old Trafford now Amorim has taken over with worries about how the Man Utd players will fit into his 3-4-3 formation.
Predictably, a number of his former Sporting Lisbon stars have been linked with a move to Man Utd ahead of the January transfer window.
There is unlikely to be a lot of money available for the Red Devils to bring in players mid-season but they have more chance of spending big in the summer.
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One player they are targeting is Sporting Lisbon centre-back Diomande with Amorim making that area a priority ahead of the next couple of windows amid links to Barcelona’s Andreas Christensen.
Caught Offside claim that new Man Utd boss Amorim ‘has had some contact with his former Sporting Lisbon star Ousmane Diomande over a potential transfer to Old Trafford.’
Amorim is ‘keen to work with him again’ but Sporting ‘are likely to hold out’ for Diomande’s release clause ‘if clubs come knocking on their door about him’.
Caught Offside add: ‘Sources are also aware of interest from Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in Diomande, but it’s now felt that Amorim’s presence at Man Utd will put them in pole position to sign the Ivory Coast international.’
But Diomande’s team-mate Gyokeres may not end up at Old Trafford with reports in Spain claiming he has ‘rejected both offers’ from Man Utd and Arsenal for his services.
The Sweden international ‘gave a resounding “no ” to both proposals, making it clear that he is not willing to settle for anything less than what he considers ideal’.
That has left Barcelona president Joan Laporta ‘rubbing his hands together’ as he hopes he can beat the Premier League duo to the signing of Gyokeres.
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