‘Serious’ Man Utd to ‘reach’ £42m for Barcelona star but Chelsea offer to ‘double’ his wages
Man Utd are ‘serious about signing’ Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
The Red Devils spent around £180m on new signings in the summer transfer window as they looked to support Erik ten Hag ahead of the new season.
However, just nine Premier League matches into the new season, Man Utd made the decision to sack Ten Hag and hire Ruben Amorim from Sporting Lisbon.
There appeared to be very limited money to spend to help Amorim improve his squad in January with Patrick Dorgu ending up as their only winter signing.
But there were multiple reports explaining that they attempted to sign a number of players during the window with interest in Bayern Munich forward Mathys Tel, in particular, reaching an advanced stage.
There were also rumours that they made early enquiries for Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz as Amorim hoped to improve his midfield options.
Despite their attempts they couldn’t negotiate another deal in the end and Amorim, whose side beat Leicester City 2-1 in the FA Cup on Friday night, now has to try and get the best out of his current squad.
But there are already plans afoot to bring in new players ahead of the summer with reports in Spain claiming that Man Utd are ‘serious about signing’ Fermin from Barcelona.
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Despite being ‘indispensible’ to the Catalan giants, Barcelona boss Hansi Flick ‘only intends to continue giving him minutes as a substitute, or in games without much significance’.
And Man Utd boss Amorim ‘wants to take advantage of this to convince him to leave Camp Nou’ despite the young Spaniard currently ‘only thinking about Barca’.
The report adds:
‘At Old Trafford they are sure that Fermin is a crack with impressive qualities and that he is ready to be one of the key players in the squad , and despite the fact that he renewed his contract with Barça a few weeks ago, they want to start talks with Joan Laporta and Deco to reach an agreement.
‘And they can put a lot of money on the table in exchange for the midfielder born in 2003, to whom they would offer an astronomical salary.’
It is understood that Man Utd will ‘reach’ €50m (£42m) in the summer and Fermin ‘may choose to pack his bags if Flick does not guarantee him the continuity and prominence he needs to exploit his full potential’.
Chelsea are also interested in signing the Spain international with the Blues ‘willing to offer him a contract with double the salary he currently has at Barça, as well as a more prominent role in the team’.
