Manchester United face a huge battle to land Declan Rice next summer with the player waiting to see if his boyhood club Chelsea are interested.
The Englishman was released from the Blues at a young age and his former club are now rumoured to be interested in him returning.
It was recently revealed through an interview with Gary Neville that he still spends most of his time where he grew up, close to Stamford Bridge.
He has been an integral part of West Ham’s league success in recent seasons, even captaining the side at just 23 years of age.
Man United have been chasing Rice for a couple of summers now but have so far failed in their pursuit.
At the end of the last summer transfer window, manager David Moyes confirmed the club will now only sell rice for a fee of over £100m.
According to The Daily Mail, United are once again ready to step up their chase for the young midfielder as they look to finally replace Nemanja Matic.
The Serbian has a contract that will run out at the end of next season so there is every possibility the club will cash in this summer.
In recent games, Scott McTominay has been used as the sole defensive midfielder but United will surely want to add a specialist to their squad during the next transfer window.
Manchester City have also registered an interest in Rice but the player would ideally prefer a move back to Stamford Bridge.
However, The Mail claims that Chelsea would need to offload N’Golo Kante, who is currently one of the best players in his role, if they were to pursue Riice.
It seems unlikely that Chelsea would take the huge risk of selling a world-class player. However, Kante turns 31 next month and it may be that Thomas Tuchel believes that his best days might be behind him.
United fans will be hoping that their London rivals do not up the ante so that they can finally sign their missing man after waiting for what feels like an eternity.