EXCLUSIVE: Man Utd edge towards Pavard after learning Tapsoba's asking price

Jacque Talbot

Updated: 10 Aug 2023 09:33 BST
4 min read

Erik ten Hag Manchester United — © ProShots

Manchester United will be told that they will have to stump up £40million for Bayer Leverkusen's Edmond Tapsoba.

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We understand that the club will look to bring in a right-sided central defender following the imminent exit of Harry Maguire to West Ham for around £30m.

Erik ten Hag wanted Kim Min-jae but the 26-year-old eventually signed for Bayern Munich as his camp was not prepared to wait for Man Utd to make enough player sales to bring him to Old Trafford. As revealed, Benjamin Pavard remains high on the list – Ten Hag enjoys using players who can operate either in the middle or on the flank of a backline.

Pavard is keen on the move and wants to leave Bayern Munich to play more regularly as a centre-back, while the Frenchman has just a year left on his contract, meaning he would be among the cheapest options for Man Utd, who are also looking to bring in another striker. Other names wanted include Jean-Clair Todibo of Nice and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, the latter of which enjoyed a superb campaign for PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie last term.

The sale of Fred will eventually mean the signing of Sofyan Amrabat who, as we revealed two months ago, has been pinpointed by Ten Hag as the perfect signing for the club on the budget they have.

Amrabat has one year left on his current deal at Fiorentina and is wanting a move to Man Utd. UK-based agency CAA Base will broker the deal. His signing will come to fruition once Fred is moved on.

Another striker for Ten Hag

Told Erik ten Hag has pin-pointed Sofyan Amrabat as his main target for Man Utd’s midfield and will action a move for the Fiorentina player once the deals of Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund are wrapped up and Fred is moved on. Much more on @Transfersdotcom soon.
— Jacque Talbot (@jac_talbot) July 8, 2023

Further sales - such as Donny van de Beek, Scott McTominay, and Anthony Martial will go towards another striker, despite reports stating that Man Utd will use Rasmus Hojlund will be their sole provider for goals on the forward line.

The ambition is for a traditional No.9 to come in; in a perfect world that would be Tottenham’s Harry Kane. Ten Hag’s system demands a physical presence leading the line, hence the purchase of Sebastien Haller by the Dutchman on two occasions, the want to keep Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of last season, the scouting and talks with Marko Arnautovic last year, and the loan signing of Wout Weghorst from Burnley in January.