Man Utd close in on THIRD signing as midfielder rejects contract offer for ‘something better’

Robin Bairner
Robin Bairner
  • 23 Jul 2025 10:15 BST
  • 16 min read
Javi Guerra, Spain, Man Utd, 2025/26
© IMAGO

Manchester United are closing in on their next summer signing, with the ‘green light’ given to a €25 million transfer.

Article continues under the video

Having snapped up Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford, Ruben Amorim’s side have turned their thoughts to the midfield, where Valencia’s Javi Guerra is close to a move.

Current ETV
Player image Javier Guerra
Javier Guerra

M, DM (C)

Valencia logo

Valencia

Javier Guerra
Javier Guerra

M, DM (C)

Valencia

Valencia

€22M

ETV Range

€19.8M - €24.2M

Man Utd are ready to finalise the transfer, according to Sebastien Vidal.

Taking to X, he reports: “Man Utd are ready to finalise the £21.5m signing of Javi Guerra. The Valencia midfielder has given a verbal green light to join Old Trafford despite interest from elsewhere. The Red Devils want to wrap up the deal quickly.”

Vidal is looking increasingly likely to leave Valencia this summer, according to reports from Marca.

He was offered a new contract by Los Che but his agent has rejected the proposal, with the player expecting “something better” from the club.

Man Utd’s interest is also mentioned in these reports, which indicate that Valencia ideally want around €27m for the player, who is 30% owned by Villarreal. Nevertheless, United have so far only offered €25m, which is a figure that is at least sufficient to keep negotiations alive.

Valencia are struggling to tie down their key players, with Cristhian Mosquera having already agreed to join Arsenal while Diego Lopez and Cesar Tarrega have also rejected offers.

What sort of player is Javi Guerra?

Guerra, who was linked with Barcelona last summer, is an energetic midfielder with excellent speed and decent stamina, making him a strong fit to play in a Manchester United team that has lacked these qualities, which are so essential for Amorim’s gameplan to succeed.

He is particularly strong when it comes to defensive positioning, according to SciSports, which rates him among the top-performing central midfielders in La Liga last season.

-+ Javi Guerra

Crucially, he has an excellent record when it comes to availability. Over the course of the last two seasons, he has missed only four league matches in total.

His output offensively is not particularly high, with just seven goals and five assists in the last two seasons, yet these are not the attributes that United are looking for from him.

Guerra has two years to run on his Valencia contract, which has a release fee of €100m installed in it. For €25m, he would arrive at Man Utd just a little above his Estimated Transfer Value of €22m, but this would likely be money well spent given the Red Devils’ needs.

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