Hey reader, welcome to The Weekly Round-Up. Here you can catch a glimpse of all the transfer news throughout the last week. Our aim is to keep you up to date with all of the reliable news regarding Manchester United, so you don’t miss a thing.
Manchester United had a good week results-wise, registering a crucial 2-0 victory over Granada in the Europa League quarter-final away from home. It only got sweeter after they came from behind to win 3-1 against Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
It was a busy week off the field too, with a lot of news around Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Jadon Sancho, Pau Torres, Raphael Varane, to name a few, along with updates on the contract situation of Edinson Cavani, Paul Pogba and Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Let’s not waste any more time and dive right into it.
TRANSFER NEWS :
Erling Haaland
This week, it was further reiterated that Haaland would be United’s prime target this summer – if a proposed deal for him would be financially viable. David Ornstein and Laurie Whitwell from The Athletic shed light on this, mentioning the fact that Manchester United do not want to enter into a long drawn transfer saga for the player. They will assess whether he’s a viable option financially, and will move on to pursue other centre-forward targets if that’s not the case.
Furthermore, Rob Dawson of the ESPN mentioned how Manchester United were never comfortable with the terms put forward by Mino Raiola and Erling Haaland’s father while negotiating for the player before he joined Borussia Dortmund in January 2020. Their demands included a release clause, which would have given them full control to do things like the recent roadshow in Spain for potential suitors – something which didn’t surprise Manchester United insiders at all.
🗞 #mufc were never comfortable with the terms put forward by agent Raiola and Haaland's father. Talks with Haaland's camp led #mufc to believe his representatives wanted to stay in control of the youngster's future by including a release clause in his contract. [@RobDawsonESPN] https://t.co/JhVukME3FO
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 9, 2021
Harry Kane
Last week, The Athletic broke the news that Harry Kane would push to leave Tottenham if they didn’t qualify for the Champions League next season, also mentioning that Manchester United and Manchester City are the clubs most likely to provide him with that avenue. It also mentioned that United would consider Kane as an alternative to Haaland if there was a way to offer players in part exchange to bring down the potential asking price.
🗞️ Erling Haaland remains #mufc's prime target, but they too would regard Kane as an alternative if there was a way to offer players in part-exchange to bring the fee down. [@TheAthleticUK]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 10, 2021
This was confirmed by David Ornstein and Laurie Whitwell again, mentioning that Kane is next on the list of Manchester United’s centre-forward targets after Haaland, but they also added that United will not do business at the proposed £120M price point mooted within the industry, not to mention dealing with Daniel Levy will be all the more difficult given he’ll be determined to not sell to a rival English club.
🗞️ Harry Kane is next on #mufc's list after Haaland, but they would not do business at the proposed £120 million fee mooted within the industry. It is understood that Daniel Levy will not sell Kane to other English clubs under any circumstances. [@David_Ornstein, @lauriewhitwell]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 12, 2021

Jadon Sancho
Although there’s been a fair amount of hue and cry around trying to ascertain the degree of Manchester United’s interest in Sancho for next summer, it has been pretty much the same for a long period of time now – the situation being he’s still a player of interest, and United would consider a deal depending on the asking price. What’s changed is that he’s not a priority target like last summer. David Ornstein reiterated this as well, adding that wages and agent fees won’t be as much of an issue given they have already been agreed previously.
🗞️ Sancho remains of interest to #mufc, but they would only proceed with negotiations, if Dortmund’s £110 million asking price from last summer comes down significantly. Wages or agent fees would not be complicated given both matters were agreed upon previously. [@David_Ornstein]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 12, 2021
This was further followed up MEN reiterating the same, saying that Manchester United have not ruled out a potential move for Sancho this summer, given the apparent willingness on Dortmund’s part to do a deal for him. Another interesting tidbit mentioned was that Borussia Dortmund had actually lined up Amad Diallo as a replacement for Jadon Sancho.
🗞 Dortmund had lined up a move for Amad in the event they sold Sancho last summer. [MEN]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 12, 2021

Considering Declan Rice as a part of any deal for Jesse Lingard?
There have always been lukewarm reports about Manchester United’s interest in Declan Rice as a player – but nothing about how big of a priority signing him is or if they were even going to consider the same. Last week, we had Roshane Thomas and Laurie Whitwell of The Athletic break the story that Manchester United would consider signing Declan Rice as a part of any deal for Jesse Lingard (who they value at £25M as things stand). The prospective signing will also depend on what progress they make on targets for other positions. Declan Rice is viewed as a long term replacement for Nemanja Matic.
🗞 #mufc are expected to explore the prospect of using Lingard as a makeweight in attempts to sign Declan Rice from West Ham United. Ole Gunnar Solskjær holds a keen interest in Rice, and he is viewed as a possible long-term replacement for Nemanja Matic. [@TheAthleticUK]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 8, 2021
We also had Samuel Luckhurst of MEN mentioning the fact that Manchester United are the front-runners to sign Declan Rice, who is also interested in a move. He has also talked about some aspects of the club to Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw during the international break. United’s chances of getting Rice could potentially depend on West Ham qualifying for the Champions League though, which could strengthen their potential stance on retaining the player. It was also mentioned that United are in the market for a midfielder given Paul Pogba will enter the final year of his contract next season.
🗞️ Declan Rice is interested in joining #mufc. Rice asked #mufc's players about the club during the England national team’s World Cup qualifiers last month. [MEN]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 14, 2021
David Ornstein also mentioned that Jesse Lingard has too much love for Manchester United to run down his contract and move as a free agent, making it more probable that he’ll leave this summer for a fee, or maybe even sign a new contract and then end up being sold. His future, as per James Cooper of Sky Sports, will also depend on the role or number of games he’ll be offered.
@David_Ornstein: "Also Lingard has too much love and respect for #mufc to let his contract run down to free agency and therefore it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he gets sold this summer or signs a new contract and ends up being sold."
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 13, 2021
The centre-back situation
Manchester United definitely are looking at recruiting a centre back in the upcoming summer window, a need which has been aggravated by Eric Bailly’s reluctance to sign a new contract, as mentioned by Mark Ogden of ESPN. The defender has interest from Spain and Italy, and unless things take a drastic turn, it looks like a move will be in interest of both parties during the next window.
🗞️Eric Bailly is ready to reject a new contract at #mufc and seek a summer move amid concerns over a lack of opportunities under Ole Gunnar Solskjær. [@ESPNFC]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 13, 2021
Some of the names Manchester United are looking at in the centre-back position include Raphael Varane of Real Madrid, Pau Torres of Villarreal and Jules Kounde of Sevilla, among others.
Simon Jones of the Mail talked about the fact that United are exploring a deal for Varane this summer, and that there is a consensus at the club that he’s the profile of defender you need alongside Harry Maguire. United have been given encouragement regarding the fact that he’s ready to leave Real Madrid at the end of the season, although there is competition from PSG. Real Madrid value the player in the region of £60M but United hope to negotiate that price down.
🗞️ #mufc are exploring a summer deal for Raphael Varane and have been given encouragement that Varane is ready to leave Madrid at the end of this season though there could be competition from PSG, the club Varane followed as a boy. [Simon Jones, @MailSport]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 13, 2021
Another name which has been circling around is that of Villarreal defender Pau Torres. He has widely been touted as one of the options on Manchester United’s list for the position. We had Rob Dawson of ESPN reiterate the fact that Manchester United are particularly interested in the player, and even though he has a release clause of €65M, offers closer to €50M might be accepted. Also, Manu Sainz of Diario AS talked about Manchester United’s ‘obsession’ with the player, and that his release clause would be worth €50M – until the last 15 days of the window where it would increase to €65M.
🗞 #mufc have marked Pau Torres as a priority transfer and their interest in him has become an obsession. Villarreal is not willing to negotiate his sale and refers to his release clause, which is 50M and rises to 65M in the last 15 days of the market. [@Manu_Sainz, @diarioas]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 10, 2021

Talking about some of the other links regarding a centre-back, Joachim Andersen has been mentioned as a player being looked at by United. Also, Manuel Akanji of Borussia Dortmund would apparently like to move to the Red side of Manchester to ply his trade, and Dortmund would consider a sale if United were to go in for him, as per Ruhr Nachrichten.
🗞 Manuel Akanji would like to move to Manchester at some point to play for #mufc, and Borussia Dortmund could consider a deal if he explicitly asks to leave at the end of the season. [@RNBVB via @Sport_Witness]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 9, 2021
Homecoming for Sam Johnstone?
Alan Nixon, who’s an extremely reliable journalist, and broke the news that only one of Dean Henderson or David de Gea would be at Manchester United next season (which was then reiterated by multiple sources), said that should one of them leave Old Trafford this season, United have Sam Johnstone on top of the list as a potential replacement. It was earlier reported by The Athletic that he would be allowed to leave West Brom for a fee between £7.5-£10M, with only a year left on his deal. Convincing him to be a backup keeper when there might be interest from other premier league teams to be a starter may be a difficult obstacle to get rid of, though.
Lucas Vázquez
Manchester United are in the market for a right-back, someone experienced who can provide competition to Aaron Wan-Bissaka and spurt him on along with providing a different dimension to the team are the qualities they’re looking for. Vázquez is all set to leave Real Madrid on a free this summer, and according to Daniele Longo of Calciomercato, Manchester United are one of the teams in the reckoning to secure his services. The player wants a four-year contract at €5M net per season.
🗞️ Lucas Vázquez is demanding a four-year deal worth €5m net per season. A.C. Milan face competition from #mufc, Bayern and Inter to sign Vázquez. [@86_longo, @cmdotcom]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 9, 2021
Interest in Dejan Kulusevski?
Dejan Kulusevski was a player Manchester United were interested in even before his move to Juventus. According to Daniele Longo of Calciomercato, Manchester United are still interested in him but Juventus do not want to sell him. This stance was echoed by Fabrizio Romano, who said that there’s nothing between the two parties regarding Kulusevski, and that he’ll stay at Juventus.
Teden Mengi to have another season at Derby County on loan?
According to Ryan Conway, who covers Derby County for The Athletic, Manchester United would be more than happy to explore the possibility of Teden Mengi returning to Derby County next season for another loan spell.
CONTRACTS :
Edinson Cavani
There has been continuous speculation regarding Edinson Cavani’s future over the past few weeks, something which has become clearer over the past few days is that Manchester United would certainly like to retain his services for another season, if he agrees to the same. Last week, we had Moi Llorens of ESPN, who’s an extremely reliable source, say that Cavani was closer than ever to Boca Juniors and even though United would like to exercise the option for an extra year in his contract (and also apparently retain him for a third season), Cavani isn’t so sure about that yet.
🗞️ #mufc would not only like Cavani to trigger the option for next season , but also want to keep him at Old Trafford for a third season. Cavani, however isn’t so sure about that. [@moillorens via @Sport_Witness]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 9, 2021
Also, we had Fabrizio Romano state that United are still waiting for a definite answer from Cavani and that the player wants to decide his future calmly together with his family. Andy Mitten from The Athletic also mentioned that it is unlikely that Cavani stays at Manchester United next season.
New contract for James Garner
According to Alan Nixon, James Garner is set to be offered a new contract by Manchester United and are looking for a loan move abroad, but could still end up settling for another move in the Championship. Also, we had Paul Taylor, who covers Nottingham Forest for The Athletic, say that although Forest are keen to have the player with them again next season, they understand they’re at the back of a long queue with Brighton, Norwich City and Scottish Champions Rangers all interested in the player.
Paul Pogba asking for a deal worth €18M euros net?
According to Fabrizio Romano, who was speaking on the United Muppetiers Podcast, Paul Pogba was asking for a deal worth €18M euros net last season (or around £300k/week net). For context, Manchester United’s highest earner, David de Gea, earns around €13.8M euros net (or around £230k/week net) – (The wages are usually reported in gross format and not net, in the English media). Fabrizio further followed this up by stating his opinion that he doesn’t see Manchester United making a discount for Paul Pogba. It will be interesting to see United’s stance on this come the summer, given pogba will enter the final year of his contract next season.
🗣️ @FabrizioRomano: "The big problem is about salary, Paul Pogba was asking for €18 million euros net last season. At the moment no negotiations are going on to extend his contract, let's see if situation will change in the summer." [The United Muppetiers Podcast, @Muppetiers]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 10, 2021

Not many bumps expected while extending Solskjær’s contract after the season
It has widely been reported that Manchester United are looking to extend Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s contract, come the end of the season. James Cooper of Sky Sports has doubled down on this, stating that the power brokers at Manchester United have been impressed by improvement on and off the field under Solskjær, and that the process of agreeing a new contract with him come the end of the season, should be smooth.
🗞️ The power brokers at #mufc have been delighted with Solskjær's work behind the scenes and the first-team's improvement. Too many bumps are not expected in the talks to extend his contract when the season is finally completed. [James Cooper, @SkySports]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) April 13, 2021
Clarse work mate
Woah!