It was a fairly quiet January for Manchester United, with no new faces arriving at Old Trafford; the potential to disrupt manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s simply stunning run since taking over at the helm from Jose Mourinho with fresh mid-season arrivals has been dissipated.
With the departure of Marouane Fellaini to Chinese side Shandong Luneng Taishan, there’s now certainly potential for a newcomer in the midfield - not to mention utilizing the £100,000 per week in salary freed up by the Belgian’s move - and the Daily Mail picks up on reports that that man will be Tanguy Ndombele in this coming summer, whose representatives the Red Devils have apparently been ‘in contact’ with.
The Olympique Lyonnais midfielder has commanded more attention across the continent this season via his sensational performances in the Champions League in the group stages against Manchester City, stunning the Premier League champions in their home territory and producing an admirable draw back in France. Ndombele was vital to these triumphs and has, in basic terms, simply had to be one of the first names on manager Bruno Genesio’s team-sheet.
City and European giants Juventus have also been interested in procuring his signature
The 22-year-old central midfielder has featured in all but two Ligue 1 games for Les Gones this season, and even popped with four assists. He was provided the captain’s armband against his former side Amiens in the Coupe de la Ligue Round of 16 victory at the end of last year.
His current contract however expires in four years’ time, in 2023, and United to prise him away from the Groupama with certainly profit Lyon substantially on the €10million they paid Amiens to make him their heart of midfield following a successful initial season in loan. Current mooted figures currently place his price-tag around the £60m-£70m mark.
Though Man United’s quality in that area on the field has improved significantly under Solsjaker, with Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic, and Ndombele’s compatriot Paul Pogba offering an enviable triumvirate which has been vital in producing the nine wins in a ten-fixture streak, summer signing Fred has failed to settle and Ndombele’s experience and unflappable attitude at the highest level of the game would certainly benefit United on their future quests in recapturing Premier League success.
United haven’t won the EPL since Sir Alex Ferguson’s last season in 2012/13.
