Manchester United have identified Declan Rice as their priority transfer target going into the summer transfer window.
According to Manchester Evening News, United have put Rice on the top of their wish list for players to sign, and it looks like his contract situation could put West Ham under pressure to cash in on him.
MEN also report that United had a whole host of names who they were after this summer, but prioritised signing a central defender and a right-winger first. United completed these objectives by bringing in Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho, before resigning Cristiano Ronaldo on deadline day in one of the shock deals of the summer.
These acquisitions meant United were unable to move for a standout defensive midfielder as many of their top targets were out of their price range.
Furthermore, uncertainty around the futures of Paul Pogba, who is out of contract next summer and Donny van de Beek who has struggled to truly settle down also contributed to the lack of a defensive midfielder being signed.
As well as West Ham’s Rice, the Red Devils also held an interest in Eduardo Camavinga before his move to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka before he signed a new long term deal with the club according to MEN.
However, MEN’s report also reveals that United were never actually interested in Saul Niguez, who moved to Chelsea on loan this summer, nor Monaco’s Aurelien Tchouameni.
One thing is definitely certain, United must address the issue of defensive midfield as soon as possible because they are the only team out of last year’s top six who lack a standout defensive midfielder.
And it is already costing them points this season, having not kept a single clean sheet in the Premier League despite David de Gea’s resurgence this season.
Repeated !!!! Again. Absolute !!!!. Says it all when caught offside just repeats things !!!!. Pathetic and getting more pathetic.
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West Ham are under no pressure to sell. Rice’s contract, even without renewal, extends to 2025. The days of clubs like MU and Liverpool thinking they just have to click their fingers are done. They’re no longer bigger than sides like WH, Leicester and Everton, and they’re not the draw they think they are. Besides which, MU’s hobbit manager will be sacked by the summer. And who knows what the new manager will want?
Man Ud need to wake up to the fact that clicking their fingers and expecting players to be desperate to join them no longer happens. MU hold no more appeal than Leicester, Everton or West Ham. Rice is under contract until, potentially, 2025. So there is no hurry to renew his contract. he’ll sign when he and the club are ready. Besides which, OGS will likely be sacked by the end of this season – and who know what the new manager (probably Ronaldo) will want (other than 11 clones of himself)?