Man Utd’s Mount pursuit set to spark transfer merry-go-round with two Red Devils leaving and Rice joining rivals
MANCHESTER UNITED’S pursuit of Mason Mount is set to trigger a transfer merry-go-round, Sun Online can reveal.
Erik Ten Hag has told club officials he wants the England international after resigning himself to the fact Declan Rice is likely to go to Arsenal.
Sources say United don’t want to pay any more than £60m for the Chelsea star, who has just one year left on his deal at Stamford Bridge.
But his arrival at Old Trafford could see Scott McTominay move on.
The Scottish international is on the radar of Newcastle United. But David Moyes is also keen on him as a potential replacement for Rice at the London Stadium.
Meanwhile, Dutch flop Donny van de Beek is also set to leave after failing to prove to his Ten Hag that he has a future at the club.
A United source told Sun Online: “The club are keen to make Mason Mount a Manchester United player.
“They think he can come straight into the first team and make a positive difference to them. But they are not prepared to pay silly money and they have set the bar for what they will go to, to £60m.
“Mason is attracted to the idea of being able to link up with so many of his England colleagues like Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire. He has made it clear to his advisers that United is now the club he wants to go to and is pushing for the deal to happen.
“But Mason’s arrival would leave McTominay further down the pecking order and he’s at a stage of his career now where he wants to be playing every week.
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“There are no shortage of clubs interested and although United are not necessarily keen to sell him, he is likely to try and push for a move to take the next step in his career.
“Newcastle and West Ham are at the front of the queue but Brighton could also be looking to bring in a midfielder and think they could use European football to tempt some bigger names this summer.
The source added: “Van de Beek’s career at United has been on a knife-edge for a long time.
“Some at the club thought it could be rescued by the arrival of Ten Haag, who got the best out of him at Ajax. But it hasn’t worked out that way. Donny just hasn’t settled so he will move in the summer, most likely to Europe where he will look to rebuild and then go again.”