Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has ordered his club to deliver a double transfer raid on Barcelona for Ivan Rakitic and Samuel Umtiti, according to reports.
The Red Devils could do with major surgery to this squad ahead of next season, with Mourinho failing to get them anywhere close to rivals Manchester City in this season’s Premier League title race.
United have also massively under-achieved in Europe, dropping out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage with a shock 2-1 home defeat to underdogs Sevilla.
Barcelona were also dumped out of Europe surprisingly early as they let a 4-1 first leg lead slip against Roma in the quarter-finals, losing 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico this week.
The Catalan giants’ troubles could now be about to get worse as Don Balon claim Mourinho is making two of their key first-team stars central to his summer plans.
Rakitic and Umtiti are the players in question and could undoubtedly make a big difference to United’s hopes for next season.
Defence and midfield look areas that need improving after a huge amount of investment in attack in recent times with signings such as Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.
However, players like Chris Smalling and Phil Jones mean someone of Umtiti’s calibre at the back is a must, and Rakitic could be ideal to replace the retiring Michael Carrick this summer.