Man Utd in for €100m Bayern Munich star after admitting double transfer mistake
Manchester United and Manchester City have converged on Bayern Munich’s Aleksandar Pavlovic after Old Trafford chiefs admitted they made an error with the summer signings of Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, according to reports.
Man Utd replaced Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte during the summer by bringing in Carlos Baleba, Santos and Tielemans. United had initially targeted Elliot Anderson and Mateus Fernandes, only to be priced out of deals for both players.
Nottingham Forest told United they wanted over £100million for Anderson, while West Ham quoted the Red Devils £85m for Fernandes.
As Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants United to run more sustainably, United walked away from discussions for both players, which allowed rivals City to snare Anderson, and Tottenham Hotspur to get Fernandes.
Instead, United went down the cheaper route by paying Chelsea £50m for Santos and Aston Villa £35m for Tielemans.
As per The Sun’s United correspondent, Samuel Luckhurst, club officials ‘privately accept they fell short in the transfer window’, as Santos and Tielemans were ‘a long way down’ their list of summer targets.
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German outlet Fussball News claim Michael Carrick’s side could try to rectify the situation by swooping for elite Bayern midfielder Pavlovic next summer.
United, City, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are all ‘seriously considering’ opening talks for the German international.
Pavlovic is firmly on United’s ‘radar’, but it is City who have shown the strongest interest so far.
The report claims City have approached Bayern to find out Pavlovic’s potential availability, while also expressing their desire to submit a huge €100m (£84.5m) bid for his signature.
Madrid and PSG, meanwhile, are ‘closely monitoring Pavlovic’s development’ at Bayern.
Despite City being willing to pay significant money for the 22-year-old, Bayern insist he is ‘not for sale’.
Pavlovic’s current contract runs until June 2029, and the Bavarians will likely try to extend it to prevent any exit from occurring.
Bayern see Pavlovic as a crucial first-team player, and as an important part of their long-term project.
City could struggle to sign top-class players such as Pavlovic anyway as they are at risk of being relegated following their guilty FFP verdict.
City have lodged an appeal, but sanctions are highly likely to be imposed before the result of that hearing. Potential punishments include a massive points deduction, the stripping of titles and relegation to the Championship.
United, meanwhile, must find out how to get the best out of Tielemans and Santos in their system.
Tielemans might not last at Man Utd – Carragher
On Monday Night Football, Jamie Carragher said: “Why did Tielemans look good at Aston Villa and he’s really struggled so far at Manchester United?
“When you look at an Unai Emery team, they are coached to within an inch of their lives every day, and every time you watch an Aston Villa game, that team is compact and together.
“And when you have a player who isn’t great athletically, which he isn’t, you need your team to be super compact. That [from United] is exactly the opposite.
“This is a problem Liverpool had last season with Alexis Mac Allister.
“Mac Allister has looked better this season because the team is tighter and more compact, and that is what Manchester United need to do, or he is not going to last. He’s not going to be in the team.”
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