Ed Woodward stays home from pre-season tour as Manchester United look to make more signings before window closes
Ed Woodward will not be joining Manchester United’s pre-season tour of Asia as the club bids to secure more signings before the close of the window in just over a fortnight. United face Tottenham Hotspur in Shanghai on Thursday - two weeks before the Premier League transfer window finishes - in the fourth and final match of their trip to Australia and Asia.
Woodward, the club’s executive vice-chairman, will stay home with Matt Judge, the head of corporate development, as they bid to bolster Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad in addition to overseeing potential outgoings.
So far United have encountered frustration in their efforts to sign Harry Maguire and Sean Longstaff from Leicester and Newcastle respectively, but are hoping for a breakthrough in negotiations.
They have made two bids for Maguire so far, but as of yet have been unwilling to meet Leicester’s £90 million valuation of the England centre-half. Though they are not ready to walk away from a deal, it is thought they could pursue cheaper alternatives if talks over Maguire collapse.
However, it is understood that there are no plans to trigger the £25m release clause in Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld’s contract before it expires on Thursday.Manchester City have not yet ended their interest in Maguire, despite valuing him at closer to £60m. They also have some interest in Nathan Ake, the Bournemouth defender.
United have been quoted £50m for Longstaff, a price that could seem excessive for a player who has made just nine Premier League appearances, and initially valued him at less than half that figure. Newcastle have been using the £50m that United paid for Aaron Wan-Bissaka as a benchmark, but United consider that unrealistic given that the England Under-21 right-back has played a lot more senior football than Longstaff. Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James remain Solskjaer’s only signings to date and there is also uncertainty over the futures of a number of United’s high-profile players, including Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku - who has not played any part in United’s three tour matches to date with a reputed ankle injury - wants to join Inter Milan, but United rebuffed a £54m bid last week and are holding out for up to £90m for the Belgium striker. Inter need to sell Mauro Icardi to free up cash to sign Lukaku but have yet been able to offload the Argentina striker, who is interesting Juventus.
Matteo Darmian is one of several players who are surplus to requirements at United and has been linked with Inter, Juventus and Valencia. United are demanding around £5m for the right-back.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/07/23/ed-woodward-stays-home-pre-season-tour-manchester-united-look/