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Manchester United target Saul Niguez as part of £300million transfer rebuild


Saul Niguez is firmly on Manchester United’s transfer radar (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United are monitoring Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez ahead of an intended £300million summer rebuild.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spent around half that total during the close season on Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire as he pressed ahead with reshaping the squad around young, talented and hungry British players.

Experience but expensive misfits Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez, meanwhile, were shipped out and Solskjaer, by his own admission, is suffering the short-term consequences of relying so heavily on younger players.

The Norwegian is expected to compromise on his own policy by recruiting Mario Mandzukic as a short-term fix in January as he looks to address a chronic lack of goals, but come the summer he and the United hierarchy are again expected to focus their efforts on signing potential, rather than the finished article.

Spain midfielder Saul certainly fits into the latter category but would help address a lack of creativity in midfield, particularly if Paul Pogba’s long-term future is to lie elsewhere.

James Maddison is another of Manchester United’s main transfer targets (Picture: Getty)

The 24-year-old would not come cheap, however. He signed a nine-year contract extension two years ago which contained a release clause of €150m.

Saul is, according to the Daily Mail, on United’s transfer short list which also contains the likes of James Maddison, the 22-year-old Leicester playmaker who has earned England recognition since his move from Norwich approaching 18 months ago.

In the short-term, Solskjaer will remain reliant on the likes of Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard to supply the ammunition for the likes of Marcus Rashford and he has urged his more creative players to be braver on the ball ahead of Sunday’s showdown with Liverpool.

‘The coaching here is excellent and we are just waiting for that to flourish,’ said Solskjaer.

‘You can see loads of it, the defensive part, which is giving us a platform to play from. That last bit is going to come because we have players with that flair.

‘Maybe young players want to play safe but you have to take risks at this club, you can’t play safe.

‘One of my big philosophies is you attack quickly. You want to win the ball in great positions to attack from, but teams are so quickly back into shape these days you lose that moment of transition in one or two less positive passes.’

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