Manchester United are in talks over the signing of the most in-demand striker in the game right now, while a report has revealed two other attackers United have identified as worthy replacements for Marcus Rashford.
Rashford, 27, is heading to Aston Villa via the loan route. The winger has agreed to join Unai Emery’s side and a club-to-club agreement has been struck.
Rashford will join Villa on a six-month loan that contains a £40m option to buy. Villa will cover at least 70 percent of Rashford’s £325,000-a-week wages during the loan. If the option to buy is triggered, Rashford will be signed to a three-year contract at Villa Park running until the summer of 2028.
According to The Athletic’s Man Utd expert, Laurie Whitwell, United do intend to sign a replacement for Rashford.
Whitwell wrote: “Rashford’s exit means United would like to add an offensive player if at all possible to help fill the gap in Ruben Amorim’s squad.”
Whitwell named Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey and Christopher Nkunku of Chelsea as attackers Man Utd have identified as viable targets for a six-month loan.
However, the third player named – Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel – is the star Man Utd are now accelerating talks to sign.
Tel informed Bayern Munich earlier this week he’d like to leave the club. His stance was adopted primarily due to a lack of game-time in Bavaria, with Harry Kane unmoveable in the striker spot.
Tel, 19, can play on the left side of the attack too and a craving for more minutes is his main motivation.
From the Premier League alone, Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man Utd and Aston Villa all sprung into action.
Spurs took the lead when forging a club-to-club agreement with Bayern worth €60m/£50m for Tel’s permanent transfer.
However, Tel rejected the opportunity to sign for Spurs, with reports at the time claiming Tel had performed a U-turn and became open to remaining at Bayern.
But a big clue was dropped that a transfer is still there to be made when Tel was omitted from Bayern’s squad to face Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
And according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, it’s entirely possible Tel leaves Munich before the February 3 deadline and arrives in England.
Taking to X on Sunday morning, Romano wrote: “Understand Mathys Tel has still not 100% decided to stay at Bayern at this stage… and his exit remains possible in the final 36 hours.
“Manchester United are pushing for loan move, Arsenal also called again in the recent hours. All proposals being assessed on player side.”
A follow-up from Romano added further fuel to the transfer fire.
The reporter stated: “Understand Manchester United and Arsenal are both in contact with Mathys Tel’s camp now!
“Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry are two of the main idols for Mathys who’s now considering his options.
“Still concrete chances to leave Bayern in the final 36 hours, waiting on final decision.”
In other news, the proposed loan deal that would’ve sent Tyrell Malacia to Benfica has collapsed.
Malacia has the green light to leave amid the arrival of new left wing-back, Patrick Dorgu, which was announced on Sunday morning.
But a Malacia move to Benfica is no longer on the cards, with the Portuguese giant fixing their gaze on Roma’s Samuel Dahl instead.
Man Utd are still exploring exit opportunities for Malacia, with Scottish champions Celtic linked with a move.
Celtic are signing Kieran Tierney from Arsenal, though it’s expected the Scotland international will only be allowed to leave in the summer and not this window.
If that is the case, Malacia would be targeted for a six-month loan to bridge the gap to Tierney’s arrival.
