Manchester United are reportedly eyeing up the potential transfer of Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino ahead of the summer.
A number of other top clubs such as Manchester City, Juventus and Atletico Madrid are also said to have been closely monitoring the Spain international, so there could be an intriguing race for his signature this summer.
This is according to a report from Spanish outlet Cope, as cited and translated by Sport Witness, with Merino yet to agree a new contract with Sociedad, and with contract talks supposedly hitting something of a stalemate.
According to the report, this means the Basque outfit may have to sell Merino for below his €60million release clause, which could certainly make things interesting for Man Utd and other clubs.
Merino transfer on the cheap could be just what Man United need
It’s clear that this has been far from a good enough season for the Red Devils, so strengthening in a number of areas has to be a priority for the club this summer.
Merino looks like he could be an upgrade on some of the other midfielders in Erik ten Hag’s squad, with ageing players like Casemiro and Christian Eriksen perhaps no longer good enough, while Scott McTominay has continued to be in and out of the side and not the most consistent performer, despite the qualities he can bring.
Sociedad won’t want to lose a key figure like Merino, but it seems things are not currently working in their favour, so MUFC could soon be in a good position to capitalise.
Still, as it’s not the happiest of times at Old Trafford right now, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Merino felt other options like City, Atletico or Juve were more appealing and more likely to give him a genuine shot at winning major silverware.