Manchester United have expressed their interest in signing AS Monaco midfielder Youri Tielemans before the January transfer window closes, according to reports from Belgium.
Tielemans, who captained boyhood club Anderlecht aged 19 against Man United in 2017, joined Monaco at the start of last season.
He has encountered something of a nightmare this season, however, with Monaco slipping to 19th place in the Ligue 1 table.
And according to Belgian media outlet Nieuwsblad, Man United have expressed interest in Tielemans’ predicament in France and are weighing up the possibility of signing the 21-year-old on a loan deal.
Tielemans is not struggling for game time at Monaco – he has 24 appearances in all competitions – but his club finds itself in a truly massive slump.
Leicester City are another club interested in the midfielder, proposing a fee of around £20m for a permanent deal, according to Sky Sports.
United have never looked like doing concrete business this month, with Jose Mourinho’s sacking before Christmas pushing transfer policy to the background. Any deal they do strike is likely to be one presented to them as a ‘golden opportunity’, just like Alexis Sanchez last year.
Either way, you suspect United are thinking more long-term when it comes to planning for the future.