Manchester United doesn’t see a likely road chase to be wise at this stage.
Man Utd ready to give up
The Red Devils are poised to give up their transfer chase for Benfica striker Darwin Nunez as they become increasingly wary of a bidding war with the Reds. The Anfield club are on pole position to sign the Uruguayan player and while the Red Devils would love to have him at Old Trafford, they know the chase could be fruitless. With a plethora of areas they want to tackle this summer, this is a battle that Man Utd seem ready to sidestep.
The Reds are confident of landing a rising star as an attacking replacement for Mane, who is on the verge of a transfer to Bayern Munich. They have made the Uruguayan their top priority and are willing to pay a club record fee of over £75m to land him. After Spurs crept up on Luis Diaz in January, the Reds are itching to beat any opponent that gets in their way for Darwin.
The Benfica player has scored 26 league goals and six goals in Europe so far, enough to put him on the Red Devils’ radar. While the player seems set to turn his attention away from Darwin Nunez, the Manchester United striker is still looking to make some headway in the coming months.
Who is Man Utd ready to hunt?
Unlike the situation with Darwin, which was quickly spoiled by Man Utd, they are gearing up for a long race for Barcelona’s De Jong this summer and have not given up on taking him to Old Trafford. The club has officially opened talks with Barcelona for Frenkie de Jong, although they are not afraid to leave because other options are on the table.
West Ham Declan Rice and Leeds Kalvin Phillips are also being considered as possible targets, although they may incur inflated transfer fees as England players. In total, head coach Ten Hag wants to make five receipts in his first transfer window at the club.