Man Utd chief John Murtough and Solskjaer assent four-man transfer shortlist.
Manchester United have named four players to sign in the summer transfer window after a meeting between some senior personalities including Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, John Murtough, and Mike Phelan, according to reports.
The Red Devils need some supplements to challenge Manchester City for next season’s Premier League right and could pay big in the coming months as they look to reinforce their ranks.
United finished 12 points adrift of their cross-city opponents after a disappointing campaign in which Solskjaer’s wait for the first trophy as manager was prolonged by at least another year.
The club wasted their latest chance to claim major honors on Wednesday as they were conquered by Villarreal in the Europa League final after a tight penalty shoot-out.
Solskjaer is known to be tracking a number of signings ahead of next season, but the result in Gdansk will have magnified the Norwegian’s wish to use the transfer market to his advantage over the next few months.
He is understood to be eyeing the extensions of a central defender and a winger, with United’s need for a striker not as paramount thanks to Edinson Cavani’s settlement to pen a new one-year contract earlier this month.
Solskjaer and Murtough met on Thursday to review their summer recruitment strategy, with the two finally agreeing on four priority targets with the potential to move the club forward, according to the Manchester Evening News.
The report alleges that Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane, Pau Torres, and Declan Rice are the quartet in question, but it remains to be seen whether United will choose to finance moves for all four stars.
The Red Devils are long-term followers of the former and are anticipated to go back in for his services this season after failing to secure his signature a year ago.
A move for the England star confirmed to be a step too far as United were not ready to match Dortmund’s nine-figure asking price, but he is assumed to be available for a reduced fee of £80million this time around, which could see him eventually make the move to Old Trafford.
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Meanwhile, Varane and Torres are being examined for the center-back position to partner Harry Maguire on a long-term basis.
The Real Madrid player has been massively associated with a move to United, with his current contract set to lapse at the end of next season, while Torres excelled in Wednesday’s final and is reported to have a release clause of £43m written into his contract with Villarreal.
Rice is another long-term target, with the 20-time Premier League champions said to have kept a tight eye on the West Ham United midfielder’s situation for well over a year.
However, he is likely to cost the Red Devils an arm and a leg this season, with the Hammers unwilling to let go of their prized asset.
Although Cavani’s continuation suggests that United will not be forced to land a striker as their top preference, the report also alleges that Solskjaer has refused to rule out the likelihood of signing a brand new No 9.
Tottenham wantaway Harry Kane has lately been considered in connection with a move to Old Trafford, but given his reported £200m price tag and City’s status as frontrunners in the race for his signature, it looks as though a move could be hard to engineer.
Solskjaer revealed earlier this month that he will be aspiring to make at least two signings this season, but highlighted the advancements made during his time at the helm, implying that United are on the right track in terms of challenging for silverware.
“I hope that we’re going to strengthen with a few, two or three players we definitely need to challenge higher up in the table,” he said.
“We’re still too far behind to think it is just going to come by itself. We’re planning as we normally do, we have had, it’s not like end of season and let’s see what we do, that’s an ongoing process.
“We are looking at the squad, the players who are going to stay, those who might be leaving.
“We’re not where we aim to be, we’ve got ambitions to move one place further up but it’s been steady improvement, we’ve improved steadily, surely, third last season, second this season with more points.”
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Man Utd chief John Murtough and Solskjaer assent four-man transfer shortlist.
