Manchester United seem to be going from bad to worse with injuries and form not going their way.
The defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday was bad enough, but it also included a serious injury to Lisandro Martinez, which will rule him out for months. After that Ruben Amorim failed to land any deadline day signings, which was always set to be the case.
It means those at Old Trafford will have to make do with what they’ve got as they aim to avoid surpassing last season’s worst ever Premier League finish. The lack of a prolific frontman has long been cited as an issue whilst Amorim is largely working without any natural wing-backs, although he did land the signing of Patrick Dorgu late in the window.
We take a look at the transfer news coming out of Manchester ahead of what could be a defining summer.
Gyokeres’ price tag
Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres is likely to be top of United’s shopping list as they look to reunite the frontman with Amorim. Gyokeres proved to be an inspired signing when he moved to Portugal and is now one of Europe’s most prolific forwards.
He scored a hat-trick against Manchester City several months ago and according to iNews the Lisbon outfit would be willing to part ways with their star striker for around £60million.
Sporting have shown that they will sell their top talent for the right price. Amorim saw a number of his best players leave during his tenure and the club may yet see their former manager return for their prized asset.
Kane’s release clause
Harry Kane will have his release clause activated next January which means a club could bring him back to England in a cut-price deal. The striker was heavily linked with a move to Manchester before he eventually opted to join Bayern Munich.
Any club could’ve triggered a release clause in the January transfer window that would have allowed him to leave the Allianz Arena for around €80million (£67m).
Whilst that deadline has now passed another release clause will be valid in 12 months time – at an even more reduced rate with Bild reporting it will be as low as €65m (£54m). It is understood that Tottenham have first refusal if he does leave the German club but United could certainly be in the race.
Luiz back to Manchester
Those on the red half of Manchester are interested in a move for Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz. The 26-year-old has struggled for regular minutes in Turin since arriving from Aston Villa last summer and is now reviewing his options.
Luiz was linked with City in the January window, the club where he used to play before moving to Villa, and the Daily Mail report that United are also admirers of the Brazilian, who was a standout when Villa finished in the top four last season.
Juventus boss Thiago Motta has continued to give Luiz his public support but internally there have been discussions about a potential exit. They couldn’t achieve that last month and may try again in the summer.
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