Manchester United are reportedly keeping a close eye on a pair of German superstars as they look to catapult themselves back up towards the top of English football and challenge for the Premier League again.
Manchester United's summer business under scrutiny
Despite spending significant sums over the summer, Erik ten Hag is under massive pressure and Manchester United are 14th in the Premier League, having scored just five goals in their seven games so far. It comes in the wake of a summer in which the club once again backed the Dutch manager, shelling out £180m on five new players headlined by the arrivals of Manuel Ugarte from PSG and Leny Yoro from Lille.
Despite the heavy spending, United’s CEO Omar Berrada has suggested that the Red Devils won’t be able to challenge for the title until 2028.
“It’s not a 10-year plan. The fans would run out of patience if it was a 10-year plan. But it’s certainly a three-year plan to get there”, he revealed.
“To think that we’re going to be playing football as good as Manchester City played against Real Madrid last season by next year is not sensible. And if we give people false expectations, then they will get disappointed. So the key thing is our trajectory, so that people can see that we’re making progress.
“I think it’s the club’s 150-year anniversary in 2028… if our trajectory is leading to a very good place in that sort of timeframe then we’d be very happy with that.”
Despite the realistic rather than optimistic goal, the club will still be aiming to recruit the best talent in world football to Old Trafford, and now are reportedly monitoring a potentially massive double deal.
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That comes as Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg has revealed that Manchester United are once again looking to snatch unwanted stars from Bayern Munich. This summer, the Red Devils shelled out around 60m euros to bring Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui to Old Trafford from Bavaria, and are now looking to repeat the trick for two of their former title-winning teammates.
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That comes in the shape of Leroy Sané, who is out of contract at the end of the season as things stand, as well as out-of-favour midfielder Leon Goretzka, who has featured just once in the Bundesliga under Vincent Kompany this season and was publicly dubbed unwanted over the summer.
The report claims that the club are “monitoring” the duo, and that Goretzka is an “interesting candidate” for a potential winter move, while former City winger Sané is free to enter negotiations over a free transfer in the same window.
It is added that both are keen to stay at Bayern as things stand, but with Goretzka unfavoured by Kompany and Sané likely to have to take a pay cut to do so, that could change quickly.
When fit, the Germany winger has been a key man for Bayern, with Jamal Musiala dubbing him “one of the best wingers in the world” earlier in the year. Even if both he and Goretzka were to come cheaply, their wages would be another stumbling block, with the pair taking home a combined £612k per week at the Allianz Arena.
With both earning around £300,000 a week, it would put them among Manchester United’s highest earners were they to be paid the same in the northwest.
Manchester United’s highest earners
Player
Wage per week
Casemiro
£350,000
Bruno Fernandes
£300,000
Marcus Rashford
£300,000
Mason Mount
£250,000
Antony
£200,000
There is the added complication of European football, with United not currently on course to be playing Conference League football next season, let alone the Champions League football that the pair have become accustomed to.
Pulling off a deal for either would be a major coup, but given the recent history of big signings at Old Trafford, it would be another suggestion that nothing new has been learned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co.