Man Utd 'monitoring' Bayern Munich midfielder

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 11 Dec 2024 08:28 GMT
• 4 min read

Manchester United are 'monitoring' Bayern Munich midfielder Konrad Laimer, according to reports in Germany..

The Austrian found the net in Bayern's Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday and now the suggestion is that some of the Premier League's top brass have an interest in him.

Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg has claimed United are fans of Laimer but no contact has been made.

MAN UTD TRANSFER NEWS TODAY: Amorim January plan CONFIRMED, Osimhen SWAP, Cunha BOMB

He posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Yes, Manchester United were recently impressed by the performances of Konrad #Laimer, as revealed in our Transfer Update show last week.

"However, there is currently no contact with his management and no other discussions taking place at this time. The #MUFC focus remain on other transfer targets for now. And Laimer wants to stay at FC Bayern. Contract until 2027. Important player.

A new midfielder would likely be to replace veteran Casemiro, as Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo are the first-choice players. It is not really a position that they desperately need to bolster.

Current ETV

Konrad Laimer

M, DM (C), D (R)

Bayern

Konrad Laimer

M, DM (C), D (R)

Bayern

€26.4M

ETV Range

€19.8M - €33M

View full profile

The club are in need of a left wing-back and it's thought that they are very tight on money at the moment, with Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe even cancelling the Xmas parties and removing staff members annual £100 bonus for the festive period in exchange for £40 M&S vouchers.

Man Utd to use Zirkzee to buy Osimhen?

Elsewhere, reports in Italy suggest Napoli are close to signing Joshua Zirkzee, with head coach Antonio Conte said to be hopeful of repeating the trick he managed in the summer when he raided Man Utd for Scott McTominay, who has gone on to thrive in Serie A.

According to Il Mattino (via CalcioNapoli24), Conte has green-lighted the move that would see Zirkzee move back to Italy.

“The Napoli coach has given the green light for the arrival of Joshua Zirkzee in the January transfer window,” it reports. “The striker is not convincing at Manchester United and would be happy with a return to Italy after his excellent spell last season with Bologna. Conte already wanted Zirkzee last summer but the costs were prohibitive.”

Napoli are still getting to grips with their attack in the post-Victor Osimhen era. His departure has affected them massively. Romelu Lukaku has come under fire and there is a sense that they need more goal-scoring power.

Osimhen, for his part, is a player who is linked with Man Utd, with a possible January move certainly not ruled out, despite the Nigeria international happily scoring goals in Turkey for Galatasaray.

United could try to use Zirkzee as a makeweight in any deal to land the elite forward who has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave Turkey in the January window.