Manchester United face a busy summer in the transfer window as Ineos look to rebuild the club’s first-team after a disappointing 2023/24 campaign.
Erik ten Hag‘s side ended the Premier League season in eighth, their lowest top-flight finish since 1989/90. Their FA Cup triumph over rivals Manchester City will have given them some encouragement though.
And Ineos are set to complete their first signing at Old Trafford with the arrival of Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee set to be confirmed imminently. Below is a selection of the latest media reports around United and our take on the latest news…
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Yoro transfer update
Man United and Real Madrid are the only two teams left in the race to sign Lille centre-back Leny Yoro, according to claims by Sky journalist Florian Plettenberg.
“Leny #Yoro has not made a decision yet. Understand it is now about whether he will move to Manchester United or Real Madrid!” He posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“These two teams are currently in the race for the 18 y/o top talent from Lille At the same time, #MUFC is taking the next steps in the negotiations with FC Bayern for Matthijs de Ligt.”
MEN Sport’s Isaac Seelochan says: Yoro would be an excellent signing for United and the fact they have agreed a fee with Lille is a sign that they must have received some encouragement from the player’s camp over whether he wants to join.
But Madrid will be hard to turn down and any indication that he may be stalling for a move to the Bernabeu should see United move on to other targets. For now though, the signs are very promising.
Zirkzee deal surprises Meulensteen
Former United assistant manager Rene Meulensteen admits to being left surprised at the imminent signing of Zirkzee.
“[Zirkzee is an] interesting, young and up-and-coming player,” he said on talkSPORT. “He is a tall boy. Strong. Very, very skilful. But it’s a bit of a surprising sort of signing.
“When people come from other leagues into the Premier League, they take time to settle. It is interesting to see how Zirkzee is going to do there because I maybe expected Man United to go for [a striker who is] a little more experienced.”
MEN Sport’s Isaac Seelochan says: Meulensteen raises an interesting point as United will now have two inexperienced strikers in Hojlund and Zirkzee when the Dutchman’s signing is made official.
However, there are very few experienced strikers available at the highest level and for fees which won’t see the club blow most of their summer budget when other positions are of greater concern.