Man Utd ‘trying to hijack Chelsea transfer’ after missing out on Gakpo

Man Utd's next six Premier League fixtures

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Manchester United may have missed out on Cody Gakpo but could still strengthen when the transfer window reopens in January. And reports claim the Red Devils are hoping to hijack Chelsea’s pursuit of Benoit Badiashile, with the Monaco star being eyed at a time where Erik ten Hag’s side are short on defenders. Though a striker if the club’s preference, it appears they’re open to bolstering their backline as well.

Manchester United had been considered the frontrunners in the race to sign Gakpo, who has been in electric form for PSV Eindhoven so far this season.

But the Red Devils have now missed out, with the Netherlands international primed to join Liverpool instead.

While United are prioritising a striker at the current moment in time, something Ten Hag has confirmed, L’Equipe say they’re also eyeing a hijack of their own when it comes to Badiashile.

It’s claimed Chelsea are presently the only club to table an offer for the Monaco star, who has just 18 months left on his contract.

But United and Barcelona have ‘been in touch’ when it comes to signing the player, who will cost in the region of £35million.

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Badiashile is, though, more keen on joining Chelsea because the Blues have told him he’ll be central to their project at Stamford Bridge.

Barcelona have supposedly tabled a contract offer to the 21-year-old in the hope they’ll win the race for his signature.

But they can only afford to do a deal for the centre-back at the end of the season, instead of in January, due to their financial situation.

Barcelona are trying to convince the French defender to stay put until then yet whether he’s inclined to do that remains to be seen.

United, it seems, have their work cut out when it comes to getting the youngster in the door.

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And, following their failure to sign Gakpo, it’ll be intriguing to see if they’re able to make any additions to their squad next month.

United have a mixed record regarding January signings over the years, dating back to when Sir Alex Ferguson ruled the roost.

Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra were both hits upon moving in 2006, with the duo going on to win 10 Premier League titles combined.

Bruno Fernandes has also been a success story after he joined from Sporting Lisbon back in the January transfer window of 2020.

But Zoran Tosic was a dud under Ferguson, with the Serbia international never making the grade at Old Trafford.

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And with Alexis Sanchez scoring just five goals following his blockbuster move from Arsenal in January 2018, the Chile international is another player who falls into the dud category.

Ten Hag, meanwhile, was asked about Gakpo after his United side beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Tuesday night.

And he responded by saying: “I don’t talk about individual cases.

“We are looking for offensive players, looking for a striker, that would be good because we have so many games coming.

“We want to keep playing in all the competitions we are in, we want to keep going to the end of the season so you need numbers to keep competing.”

Ten Hag also insisted he wants United to be more clinical, adding: “We have to score more goals, we created so many chances and it take us just before the end to score the third goal, we need to take this moment earlier.

“Just before half-time we had two really good chances to finish the game.

“There are many games to come, you can then save energy and is better for everyone. For the progress of the team we need to be more clinical.

“You can see Martial and Rashford are goalscorers, Bruno Fernandes will score goals, but we have to be ruthless.”

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