Man Utd takeover: Three huge transfers threatened as deal stalls again

Jacque Talbot

• 12 Apr 2023 19:45 BST
• 3 min read

The Manchester United takeover continues to linger on, with the Glazers seemingly intent on dragging out the process as long as possible.

The initial idea was that the move would be swiftly wrapped up in time for the new season so that the news owners - whoever they may be - would be able to utilise the transfer market in the summer.

But now there is a third stage in bidding, as the Glazers look to squeeze maximin value for their club.

READ MORE: Man Utd's five most valuable players

Such delays will no doubt tarnish their chances of bringing in their first-choice targets.

It’s no secret that Man Utd are looking for a fresh new No.9 to come in and take over the role currently occupied by Wout Weghorst.

Marcus Rashford has been doing most of the heavy lifting where goalscoring is concerned but the side still has a list of targets they are looking at to fulfil the centre-forward role.

Harry Kane is included in this. The Tottenham attacker is out of contract in 2024, and while his current side are enduring a bit of turmoil of late, they are adamant that they want £100million for his signature.

Bayern Munich are also in the hunt for the England captain and sounds have been that they would be willing to splash a sizeable sum for a marquee forward.

The German club are also in for Victor Osimhen, too, and they would be rivalling Man Utd for him.

Napoli are tough negotiators and won’t let him go without extrapolating maximum value. This could be considered a positive for the Red Devils, who could potentially be armed with vast sums of money with fresh owners, but also they would need to move at a rate which does not see the player sign on the dotted line at another club.

Bellingham now a target

Jude Bellingham is another who will have his pick of the bunch, if he does choose to leave Borussia Dortmund this summer.

Liverpool told reporters to outlay that they had no interest in signing Bellingham at BVB’s asking price and will instead move on to other targets.

Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are also linked, though reports in Germany suggest that Bellingham is looking to move to a club which has a lot of prestige and history.

That would of course include Man Utd - even if they have had a slight bump in the road over the past ten years or so, they have a huge pull.

But their city rivals will be in amongst it too - and the longer this takeover carries on, the harder it will be for Man Utd to ensure that they get their first-choice targets over the line.