Man Utd have 'strong' interest in agreeing deal for €40m star, want to swap with Lindelof - report
Manchester United are willing to offer Victor Lindelof as a makeweight to sign Inter Milan defender Benjamin Pavard at the end of the season, according to Inter Live.
The Red Devils were heavily interested in signing Pavard from Bayern Munich last summer, but they could not afford to land his signature due to Financial Fair Play.
The hierarchy were hoping to offload Harry Maguire to recoup funds, but the Englishman’s decision to stay meant that the club missed out on him to the Nerazzurri.
Inter Live now report that United are still ‘strong’ on the profile of Pavard. The club could propose a player-plus-cash deal for the World Cup winner this summer.
Pavard is currently valued at around €40 million and United are prepared to include former Inter target Lindelof as a makeweight to reduce the price for the deal.
However, a move seems unlikely to happen with the Nerazzurri not convinced over Lindelof anymore amid his limited minutes during the course of the campaign.
Inter Live claim that there would be no ‘positive factors’ for Inter in the deal. Lindelof is more likely to embrace one of the many offers from Saudi Arabia this summer.
Man Utd unlikely to get second chance at signing Pavard
Pavard was open to making the switch to United last summer and a deal was advanced.
However, the negotiations broke down with the Red Devils unable to recoup funds from player sales. The club eventually handed a short-term contract to Jonny Evans.
United seem to have reignited their pursuit of Pavard, but a deal is unlikely on the cards with the Nerazzurri said to value the defender highly at the moment.
While the price reportedly stands at €40m, it is claimed that the Nerazzurri ‘may be reluctant to enter negotiations for even higher figures’ during the summer.
We are not surprised by the stance. Pavard is around two years younger than Lindelof. He is a better distributor and has won more tackles and duels this term.
Pavard can comfortably play in the right-back and centre-back positions. He is a natural in both departments and no club would want to lose such a player.
With the futures of Raphael Varane and Aaron Wan-Bissaka uncertain beyond this season, Pavard would be an ideal replacement for two key positions at United.
However, we don’t see a deal happening unless the club pay over the odds for Pavard. This seems unlikely to happen under the upcoming board led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
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