Manchester United have been offered the chance to sign Marco Asensio from Real Madrid.
According to Jason Burt of The Telegraph, United were given the option to pursue a deal for the Spaniard before they signed his teammate Casemiro.
The club are currently in advance talks to sign Ajax winger Antony in a deal worth €95m.
However should Ajax refuse to sell at that price, the Red Devils are not expected to improve upon their offer.
And should that happen, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that United could revisit Madrid’s offer, given that they lack a left-footed attacker in their squad.
Asensio is understood to be valued at £25.3m by the La Liga giants, who are reluctant to see him leave on a free transfer at the end of the season when his contract expires.
If the Antony deal does fall through, Asensio may well be a cheaper alternative to supplement Erik ten Hag’s current right-wing options.
The lower fee could even free up some funds to allow United to revive a deal for FC Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong.
The Dutch playmaker has been Ten Hag’s primary target throughout the summer; however the complexity of the negotiations have left many viewing the deal as dead.
Nevertheless, reports that Manchester United emissaries will arrive in Spain this week to discuss the possibility of signing De Jong.
It may be that United are set on securing either one of their manager’s favoured targets, in which case any hiccups in signing Antony would necessitate a serious effort to secure De Jong.
Ten Hag has been insistent on added weapons to his attacking arsenal this summer, however.
A deal for Marco Asensio – as relatively cheap and easy to complete as it would be – would allow them to do that should all else fail.
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