Manchester United have made a massive opening bid for Benfica striker Darwin Nunez, according to a leading Portuguese news outlet.
Nunez has shot from obscurity to become one of the most sought-after strikers in world football after scoring 34 goals in 41 games for the Eagles last season.
And with United losing Edinson Cavani, Mason Greenwood being unavailable and Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford both struggling for form, strengthening in attack has become an urgent priority for the Red Devils.
This has put Nunez at the top of United’s wish list and in the early hours of this morning, Correio de Manha reported that they have already lodged a massive bid for the Uruguayan.
According to the outlet, a bid of €75 million with €20 million in bonuses plus a player worth €10 million has been lodged.
This meets “the triple digits that Benfica requires to sell the striker.”
“United are willing to pay 75 million euros upfront, then advancing with another 20 million euros in goals that the English club considers easy to achieve in the medium term,” the outlet claims.
“United have added one more element: they agree to give Benfica the contract of a player valued at 10 million euros. Thus, the amount of the deal, in the best scenario, would amount to such 105 million euros (£89 million).
“The first name suggested to Benfica was Andreas Pereira, a 26-year-old Brazilian midfielder who ends his contract with United in June 2023.”
Correio states that because a large part of the offer is made up of bonuses and a player going the other way, Benfica are still studying it and have not yet responded.
The report claims that there is still an “expectation” that United will improve their offer or that another club may offer more.
The inclusion of Andreas in the deal is an interesting element as it was reported only yesterday that incoming United manager Erik ten Hag is willing to give the player a chance to prove himself at Old Trafford.