A major barrier to Man Utd completing a canny midfield signing this summer has been breached, and the bargain fee being cited will greatly please Erik ten Hag, per a report.
The Athletic stressed on Monday that Man Utd’s summer recruitment drive will extend beyond just an addition at center-forward.
Once a new hitman has been pocketed, attention will turn to a new No 8 (box-to-box midfielder), and then a more attack-minded option at right-back.
Regarding the latter, United is understood to have already held ‘exploratory talks’ with Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard. If signed, the France international would replace Aaron Wan-Bissaka who Ten Hag will ‘listen to offers’ for.
Today’s Euro Paper Talk brought news of Man Utd drafting an all-star three-man shortlist of midfield targets.
If one of the superstar trio can be signed, the writing will be on the wall for both Scott McTominay and Donny Van de Beek.
However, Ten Hag cannot afford to enter a campaign with just Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Fred, and a new signing at his disposal. For a club who’ll hopes to challenge itself on four fronts again, more than four established midfielders will be required.
That’s where Marcel Sabitzer could come in, with Sport1 from Germany reporting Man Utd has received the green light to pursue a move.
The Austria international is currently in the middle of a six-month loan from Bayern Munich. His deal quickly ramped up on deadline day in the January window once Eriksen was ruled out with an ankle injury.
Sabitzer has quickly earned the trust of Ten Hag and has generally been favored ahead of McTominay and Fred in Casemiro and Eriksen’s absences.
His loan deal doesn’t contain an option to buy, though United can simply negotiate a permanent deal from scratch this summer.
Tuchel stance eases Man Utd’s fears
The dismissal of Julian Nagelsmann had raised concerns Bayern would backtrack on their plans to axe Sabitzer. The midfielder did not have a future back in Bavaria if Nagelsmann remained in charge.
However, Sport1 report Thomas Tuchel has adopted a similar view to his predecessor and claim (via Sports Mole) Bayern ‘will allow Marcel Sabitzer to move to Manchester United permanently’.
Sabitzer is understood to be keen on moving to Old Trafford outright. With Tuchel and by extension Bayern aligning with that stance, a deal looks there for the making.
In even better news for Ten Hag, Sport1 echoes BILD’s recent claim Sabitzer is available for a knock-down price.
BILD recently reported just £16m could be enough to swing a deal. Sport1 state a ‘suitable offer’ between the range of £13.2m and £17.6m (€15m-€20m) will be enough.
Such a modest sum would allow Ten Hag to sign a player he already knows can hack it in England.
It’d also mean only a small amount is removed from the club’s summer budget, thus barely impacting their chases for a new striker, higher profile midfielder, and attacking upgrade at right-back.
