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Manchester United have reportedly learned what they’ll have to fork out if they intend to press forward with their pursuit of Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah.
United have had a very busy summer transfer window so far, having already confirmed the signings of Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna and Leny Yoro from Lille.
Supporters already had a look at Yoro as he played 45 minutes of action during the club’s pre-season clash against Rangers on Saturday.
The Frenchman was sensational alongside Jonny Evans but it’s thought that the Red Devils want more additions in the defensive department ahead of the upcoming 2024/25 season. United have been strongly linked to Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt and Jarrad Branthwaite of Everton.
Erik ten Hag’s side saw a second bid for Branthwaite turned down by the Toffees and over the weekend, the reliable David Ornstein relayed that the Merseyside outfit informed United they will not entertain any further overtures for their defensive gem.
Meanwhile, United remain in talks with Bayern over De Ligt but the two European giants remain some distance apart in terms of their valuation of their player.
Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that United have offered Bayern significantly less than €40m for De Ligt. The Bundesliga club are adamant that only a fee of €50m including add-ons will suffice.
🚨🔴 So far, Manchester United are offering significantly less than €40m for Matthijs de Ligt!
FC Bayern have rejected every offer so far. They are firm about not negotiating on this. ManUtd (or another club) have to pay €50m plus bonus payments.
De Ligt‘s sale price is an… pic.twitter.com/BU18hvICMH
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) July 23, 2024
Amidst all this, a previous report covered by The Peoples Person relayed that United were exploring a swoop for an alternative target – Tah.
It was stated that United enquired about Tah as their deal for De Ligt continues to stall. Aware of the fact that Bayern were yet to reach an agreement with Leverkusen over the transfer of Tah, United made an approach in an apparent attempt to hijack the transfer.
According to BILD (via Metro), Leverkusen want a €40m (£33.5m) to let Tah go. This is after the reigning Bundesliga champions turned down an opening offer from Bayern worth €18m (£15m) for Tah.
It’s understood that talks with Bayern have hit a snag and it’s “not impossible” that talks will completely collapse.
It’s important to note that the 28-year-old centre-back is poised to resume training at BayArena in a few days.
Last term, Tah helped Leverkusen keep 13 clean sheets in the 31 top-flight appearances he made. He also scored four goals in the process.
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