Manchester United have joined Liverpool in showing interest in Schalke center-back Ozan Kabak, with the Old Trafford club keen to strengthen their position at full back in 2021 by finding a new long-term partner for Harry Maguire.
There are growing doubts as to whether Victor Lindelof or Eric Bailly have what it takes to tick this box, while Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo have already appeared to be surplus to needs. Axel Tuanzebe is highly regarded and promising, but United are still looking for the market.
90 mins already revealed in November that a new high-quality center-back is seen as a priority for United ahead of next season and Villarreal’s Pau Torres, who has a buyout clause of around £ 60million, is found especially at the top of this shortlist.
United have also kept an eye on Dayot Upamecano at RB Leipzig, although more recently it has been suggested that interest in the Frenchman has started to cool off, especially with Bayern Munich increasingly linked.
Sevilla starlet Jules Kounde, who was closely linked with Manchester City last summer, Brighton’s Ben White and Leicester’s Caglar Soyuncu are also on the defensive list.
A Daily Mail report claims United are also watching Kabak in his search for a new center-back. The 20-year-old is already a full-fledged Turkey international and his valuation has reportedly dropped from £ 40m over the summer to around £ 25m now.
This is significantly less than Upamecano’s release clause in Leipzig in the region of £ 37million, and obviously only a fraction of the aforementioned clause in Torres’ contract at Villarreal.
But United are not the only ones interested in Kabak. 90 mins revealed in August that Liverpool had made contact with Schalke about the player. Initially, the relationship between Jurgen Klopp and David Wagner was a factor, although the latter left Schalke at the end of September.
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