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Manchester United are taking a methodical approach to the signing of a third new midfielder of the summer window with reports naming the six-man shortlist drawn up by director of football Jason Wilcox, though Fabrizio Romano has moved to scrub one of those off the list almost as quickly as he appeared.
The Red Devils are carefully watching what they spend this summer after vowing not to pay over the odds for any target and land themselves with the kind of debts that co-owners INEOS inherited when Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought his £1.3 billion stake in the club.
After walking away from deals for Elliot Anderson, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali over the costs involved – the trio moving for a combined £301m – Manchester United have since finalised the signings of both Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos for a combined £85m.
With a third midfielder now in their sights, Wilcox and Co are carefully weighing up the merits of several candidates, with the profile of the next arrival likely to have a more defensive-minded feel to their game.
Now, per the Daily Mail journalist, Nathan Salt, United have drawn up a shortlist which includes Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, Ayyoub Bouaddi of Lille, Roma’s Manu Kone, Real Madrid powerhouse Aurelien Tchouameni and, as exclusively revealed by TEAMtalk, Fulham’s Sander Berge.
The Manchester Evening News, meanwhile, claim that a sixth new target has been added to the list in the form of PSG star Warren Zaire-Emery, rated in the €60m (£51m) bracket.
However, TEAMtalk correspondent Graeme Bailey revealed on Tuesday that long-term target Carlos Baleba has now been scrubbed off United’s list owing to the costs involved, while he also doubts the chances of Scott’s signing, owing to Bournemouth’s insistence that the player will not move and irrespective of their own £80m-plus valuation of the star and the fact that he has just turned down a new deal.
READ MORE: Man Utd pull plug on TWO MORE midfield targets as INEOS turn to sub-£40m star – Exclusive
Man Utd chances of signing PSG star ruled out by Fabrizio Romano
With that six-man list quickly reduced to five, Fabrizio Romano has now moved to scrub another name from the shortlist in the form of Zaire-Emery, with the journalist describing him as something of a dream signing but beyond the reach of the Red Devils, given PSG’s refusal to sell.
However, he did, once again, confirm their desire to bring Roma star Kone to Old Trafford this summer.
“Paris Saint-Germain want to stay with the players they have,” Romano told his YouTube channel.
“They’ve completed a new contract for Fabian Ruiz, and they’re happy with the midfield department.
“So at the moment the Zaire-Emery story is difficult. I would describe him more as a dream target than a real target for Manchester United.”
Rating Kone as a far more realistic target, he added: “For Manu Kone, Manchester United had contacts with the player’s camp last week, as I told you.
“Those conversations continue, but United have to decide how much they can spend on a defensive midfielder before taking the next steps.”
“Manu Kone remains on Manchester United’s list, but there is still no bid to Roma and no club-to-club negotiations,” Romano explained.
“And if you see reports of €85m or €90m, I’m told that’s not accurate. I’m hearing the price tag would be lower.”
Indeed, we exclusively revealed back on July 9 that United were interested in a move for the impressive France star and, significantly, had already been given a big green light to complete a deal.
Aiding their chances further, Roma boss Gian Piero Gasperini has also admitted he won’t stand in Kone’s way of leaving, with the player understood to be keen to test himself in the Premier League and with the Serie A side needing a big sale this summer to help balance the books.
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