Manchester United are reportedly keen to steal away Youssouf Fofana from AC Milan just like they did Joshua Zirkzee earlier in the summer.
The Red Devils have been trying to add to their midfield all summer but the inability to sell Scott McTominay or Casemiro so far has hamstrung their budget.
Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain had been the number one target but the French champions have yet to reduce their inflated asking price and this has resulted in United walking away from a deal for now.
One player that United have had interest in for some time is Youssouf Fofana, as they tried to loan him at the end of the last window, but came up short in their pursuit.
For a long time it looked like the French international would be heading to AC Milan but as of yet there has been no breakthrough in talks.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport “Manchester United would also like to take Youssouf Fofana, Fonseca’s first target for the midfield”, despite still having Ugarte in “their sights”.
The 25 year old “has Milan in mind and has said no to West Ham. Giving the same answer to United would be more complicated because the project of Ten Hag’s team is at least as ambitious as the Rossoneri’s.”
It is also noted that AS Monaco have “increased their demands” due to the interest from English clubs.
It was reported here yesterday that United had already proposed an “ambitious project” to Fofana and that he was “open” to a move to Old Trafford.
Sky Sports in England add to this and corroborate Italian sources about United’s interest as they claim that “Manchester United have held initial talks with Monaco over the signing of … Fofana”.
While still unlikely to come cheap, Fofana will certainly be a much more affordable deal than Ugarte and with there being a wide gap between Milan’s offer and Monaco’s asking price, there is certainly room for United to hijack the deal.
According to earlier reports Milan had only bid €14 million for the player, which United should be able to easily beat considering they were discussing a much greater fee for Ugarte.
