Man Utd threatened with Amrabat HIJACK

Carlo Garganese

30 Jul 2023 14:50 BST
3 min read

Al-Ahli have threatened to hijack Manchester United’s deal to sign Sofyan Amrabat.

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Transfer journalist Rudy Galletti reports on Sunday that the Saudi Arabian side have approached Amrabat and talks are in progress.

United are in the process of selling Fred to Galatasaray in order to make space for Amrabat but need to move fast in order to prevent being hijacked by Al-Ahli.

Atletico Madrid are also watching on as they see Amrabat as a backup solution if they can’t sign Pierre Hojbjerg from Tottenham.

Manchester United are still favourites to sign Amrabat and have already agreed personal terms with the Moroccan on a multi-year contract worth between €4-4.5 million per season.

All that is required to complete the transfer is for United and Fiorentina to agree on a final fee.

Fiorentina are asking for €30 million and United are expected to imminently make an offer of €23-25m with add-ons to take the figure to close to €30m.

FootballTransfers' Jacque Talbot reported earlier on Sunday that Amrabat is now Erik ten Hag's priority target this summer.

Man Utd and Al-Ahli are not the only team who are interested in Amrabat, with his agent admitting on Tuesday that other teams want him.

United have enjoyed an impressive start to the summer transfer window, already signing Mason Mount and Andre Onana. They are also in the final stages of signing Atalanta's Rasmus Hojlund for €85m.

Amrabat brilliant in 2022-23

Amrabat enjoyed a brilliant 2022-23 season, playing a pivotal role in Fiorentina reaching two cup finals; the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Amrabat was arguably the best midfielder at World Cup 2022, playing a crucial role for a Morocco team that stunned everyone in reaching the quarter-finals

The 26-year-old produced a series of dominant performances in the centre of midfield as Morocco knocked out Belgium from the group stages, and then Spain in the last-16 and Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Morocco were finally beaten in the semis by France, before losing the third and fourth place playoff to Croatia.