Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho will be looking to bolster his squad again this summer, but based on reports it certainly won’t be cheap.
The Portuguese tactician spent big last summer on the likes of Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but it hasn’t quite had the desired effect at Old Trafford as of yet.
United sit in sixth place in the Premier League table, although a win over Leicester City on Sunday would move them to within two points of the top four.
While the race for the Champions League will continue, The Express report that any reinforcements at the end of the season will come at a cost for Mourinho and the Red Devils.
It’s claimed that United will have to splash out a staggering £50m on Benfica defender Victor Lindelof, who has been linked with a move to Manchester for several months now.
The report adds that the Premier League giants could have signed the Swedish centre-half for £34.5m last month, but instead their decision to wait until the end of the season will cost them as Benfica have moved to remove the release clause in his deal.
It appears as though United’s spending last summer, particularly on Pogba, may put them in a difficult position in general in the transfer market based on demands elsewhere too.
The Daily Star claim that Real Madrid have put a £40m price-tag on Marco Asensio, despite the fact that the 21-year-old has struggled to even break into the line-up on a regular basis this season.
Asensio has made 23 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals and providing one assist, which has been enough to attract interest from United, Arsenal and Chelsea, as per the report.
However, it’s unclear as to whether any of the trio of English clubs would be willing to pay that much for him, but such is the transfer market these days, Real are able to make such hefty demands and believe that they will be met by an interested party eventually.