Manchester United are reportedly stepping up their chase to sign striker El Bilal Toure with the Mali international identified as Ruben Amorim’s ‘priority’ attacking target and with the player one of TWO new players tipped to arrive before the transfer deadline.
The Red Devils have had to get creative in their quest to strengthen their squad this month, having made a pretty inauspicious start to life under recently-appointed boss Amorim. With eight wins and seven defeats from his 18 matches at the helm, Manchester United chiefs have not really had the new manager bounce they were perhaps hoping for.
However, with days left in the transfer window, the club are ready to spring into life with two more new signings on the horizon to complement the arrival of teenage defender Ayden Heaven from Arsenal on Saturday.
The first of those moves, for Lecce wing-back Patrick Dorgu, is well documented. He will join the Red Devils in a £29.3m (€35m, $37.3m) move from the Italian side later this weekend with the Denmark international due to arrive in the north-west some time on Saturday.
And it seems United are not done yet with a surprise move for Atalanta-owned striker Bilal Toure also slotted to go through before Monday’s 11pm deadline. According to Foot Mercato, United are ‘accelerating talks’ for the 23-year-old, who was ironically bought by Atalanta as a replacement for Rasmus Hojlund following the Dane’s move to United in summer 2023.
And they claim the 23-cap Mali international is ‘set to sign’ for United before Monday night’s deadline in what is being billed as a ‘crazy three-way operation’.
That’s because the striker – who was reportedly quickly identified as a target for Amorim soon after his appointment as manager – is currently on loan with Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart, where he has four goals and an assist in 13 appearances, though having been out of action with injury since November.
Bilal to Man Utd and the ‘crazy three-way transfer operation’
Sources have confirmed to us that Amorim has been keen to add to his strikeforce and believes his side needs to pose more of a threat in front of goal, though knew his prospects of signing anyone this month would always depend on potential outgoings first.
Now, per the report by Foot Mercato, Stuttgart are ‘considering buying Bilal Toure permanently to sell him to Man Utd’.
The report adds ‘Wanting to keep their striker until the end of the season, Stuttgart is considering exercising the purchase option of €18m (£15m, $18.6m) in order to permanently recruit the player from Atalanta Bergamo.
‘According to our indiscretions, the former Rémois could then be recruited by Manchester United for €25m (£21m, $31m) excluding bonuses before being loaned to Stuttgart until the end of the season.’
Describing the move as an ‘a meticulous operation on the part of the English club which is therefore looking to secure its future’, it’s claimed Amorim sees Bilal as an upgrade on both Joshua Zirkzee and Hojlund, neither of whom are yet to convince the United boss they are worthy of a long-term future.
Seen as a player with a lot of potential and a cheaper addition than the likes of Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres, both of whom United have been linked with, it’s claimed the move to capture Bilal Toure has been made possible by the imminent exit of Marcus Rashford, with the player on the cusp of agreeing a move to Aston Villa.
Latest Man Utd transfer news: Rashford move ‘advanced’; new GK eyed
Meanwhile, Rashford’s move to Aston Villa is on the brink of going through after a day of progressive talks over the deal.
A report earlier on Saturday had made clear that Amorim has stressed there is no way back for either Rashford or Casemiro at Old Trafford and that the United boss is desperate to get them both moved on before Monday’s deadline.
Now at least one of them, in Rashford, is heading for the exit door, with three reasons coming to light why a move to Villa is set to get the green light and with Unai Emery having personally intervened to get the move across the line.
Elsewhere, the United boss is also thought to be seeking a new goalkeeper and has identified the man who he sees as taking the gloves off Andre Onana.
The high-profile move, though, will have to wait until the summer and amid claims they will also face competition from Chelsea for the Bundesliga star.