Manchester United are reportedly preparing to offer around €70million to Barcelona for the transfer of Ivan Rakitic as a replacement for Paul Pogba.
According to Don Balon, the Red Devils seem to be planning to replace Pogba ahead of what looks like a transfer to Real Madrid that they won’t be able to prevent.
MORE: Manchester United open talks over beating Liverpool and Arsenal to £70million transfer
Rakitic could be a fine replacement after his superb performances for Barca down the years, with Don Balon noting that he is concerned about the increased competition for places in Ernesto Valverde’s squad.
This could be good news for Man Utd, even if some fans will no doubt feel another player would also be useful if Pogba is indeed leaving for the Bernabeu.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already seen Ander Herrera leave on a free transfer this summer, while the likes of Nemanja Matic and Fred were both poor for much of last season.
Rakitic seems more like an ideal Herrera replacement, but United could surely do more to replace Pogba if he does move on.
MUFC have also been linked with Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic by Sky Italia, translated by Calciomercato, and he’d be more of a like-for-like replacement for the France international.