Manchester United’s tranfer latest and rumours: Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish on United’s radar

Manchester United is confident of a deal with Borussia Dortmund‘s forward, Jadon Sancho, but undecided on Aston Villa’s valuation as Jack Grealish interest cools. Jack Grealish is undecided about his future but is understood to be considered too expensive for United after Villa’s survival; Arsenal’s interest has not been followed up.

Manchester United are growing increasingly confident a deal can be done with Borussia Dortmund for the transfer of Jadon Sancho after cooling interest in Jack Grealish.

Discussions for Sancho center around the transfer fee and structure of paymepnts. It is understood personal terms will not be an issue.

Dortmund, however, are holding out for €120m (£109m) for the 20-year-old England international winger but United are unwilling to go that high given the financial hit that they, and many others, have taken during the pandemic.

The German club also wants in the region of €100m (£90.5m) as an immediate payment and for the deal to be resolved by the time their pre-season training camp in the Swiss spa town of Bad Ragaz begins on 10 August.

That is to give them time to find a replacement, and Dortmund is interested in Lille forward Jonathan Ikone as a potential replacement for Sancho, with the French club valuing him at €50m (£45.25m). They are also interested in former Manchester United’s winger, Memphis Depay.

Sancho’s current £190,000-a-week contract runs to 2022, which Dortmund believe puts them in a position of strength.

Manchester United monitoring Gabriel Magalhaes

Manchester United are monitoring Lille defender Gabriel Magalhaes, as they look to sign a new center-back this summer.

The 22-year-old is on United’s radar as his age, potential, and price – in the region of £20m – all fit the bill for a possible move to Old Trafford.

Everton, Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain are all entangled in the race to sign the highly-rated center-back, with the Serie A side the current front-runners as they remain in talks with Lille after wrapping up the signing of Victor Osimhen for £45m.

Gabriel starred in a Lille side that finished fourth in Ligue 1, helping them secure a place in next season’s Europa League.

He joined the French club in 2017 after arriving from Brazil and has made 52 appearances since.

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He initially struggled to adapt to senior football at Lille and went out on loan twice – first to Troyes, where he spent the first half of the 2017/18 season, before a temporary move to Dynamo Zagreb in January 2018.

First-team opportunities continued to evade him, moving between the reserve and senior sides before returning to Lille for the start of the 2018/19 season.

Gabriel took his time to cement himself in the side, not starting a Ligue 1 game until February 2019. But he has not looked back since; forging a relatively successful partnership with former Southampton player Jose Fonte at center-back.

After a seven-year absence, Gabriel helped Lille qualify for the Champions League in 2018/19, finishing second in Ligue 1 to PSG.

Gabriel has continued his ascent this season, with a string of impressive performances both domestically and in the Champions League.

Gabriel was given more time to decide his future after Paris Saint-Germain joined the race to sign him and an unnamed Premier League club submitted a late bid thought to be in excess of £22m.

Everton remains in the race to sign Lille’s player of the year after making an official bid in June.

The defender is expected to leave Lille this summer following the curtailment of the 2019/20 campaign in April.

Update on players linked with a Manchester United exit

Manchester United has been making efforts to offload some players and allow their manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, to rebuild his team. Alexis Sanchez and Chris Smalling were sent out on loans in a bid to secure permanent deals for the duo deemed surplus to requirements at the theatre of dreams.

Both Chris Smalling and Alexis Sanchez had done brilliantly well for AS Roma and Inter Milan respectively in Italy but United seem not to want them back.

Manchester United also confirmed it will not be extending Alexis Sanchez and Chris Smalling’s current loan deals with Inter Milan and Roma.

It is understood United are unwilling to extend both players’ loans into next season or have them stay out on loan any further than the current arrangement, and are looking to reach a deal for a permanent transfer.

Juventus, however, is looking to sign Manchester United’s Chris Smalling and are willing to offer Federico Bernardeschi in a swap deal, according to reports in Italy.

The defender spent last season on loan at Roma where he impressed, but the Italian side was unable to agree to an extension with Manchester United to keep Smalling permanently.

The reports claim that the champions Juve are hoping to swoop in for the 30-year-old with the offer of Bernardeschi driving down the asking price.

Manchester United are playing hard-ball and demanding Inter Milan pay £15m for Alexis Sanchez.