Man Utd drop interest in Bundesliga midfielder after talks with Ralf Rangnick

Manchester United have pulled out of the race to land Borussia Monchengladbach star Denis Zakaria, according to reports in Germany.

Ralf Rangnick has been keen to strengthen in midfield before the transfer deadline and a host of high-profile names have been linked with United in recent weeks, including Yves Bissouma, Declan Rice, Amadou Haidara and Aurelien Tchouameni.

However, Zakaria emerged as a significantly cheaper alternative option for the Red Devils this January, with the 25-year-old’s current contract at Gladbach due to expire at the end of the season.

The Bundesliga outfit have given up hope of Zakaria extending his stay and are said to be open to selling the Switzerland international for a fee of just €6million (£5m) this month given he could leave for free in the summer.

Alerted to a potential cut-price deal, United’s chief negotiator, Matt Judge, and interim manager, Rangnick, entered into discussions with Zakaria’s camp to gauge whether a move to Old Trafford might be possible.

But according to Sky Germany, United have since cooled their interest and it’s ‘unlikely’ Zakaria will be completing a switch to the Theatre of Dreams.

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The report claims Bayern Munich are among the frontrunners to secure the Swiss’ signature, with Julian Nagelsmann on the hunt for Corentin Tolisso’s long-term replacement.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Serie A giants Juventus have also been keeping tabs on Zakaria’s situation across the campaign.

Zakaria joined Gladbach from Young Boys back in 2017 and has gone on to make 138 appearances in all competitions across four-and-a-half seasons at the club.

Addressing the media last week, Gladbach sporting director Max Eberl confirmed both Zakaria and Matthias Ginter were free to leave should the club receive a ‘substantial’ offers for the duo this month.

‘It’s not surprising that there’s a lot of speculation around Denis Zakaria and Matthias Ginter at the moment,’ Eberl told reporters.

‘However, there haven’t been any concrete offers for either of them. From our side, we know where things stand with them.

‘Both are currently our players and still have six months left on their contracts.

‘But we have always said that if we were to receive a substantial financial offer over the winter that we wouldn’t rule them out leaving the club.’

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