Man Utd will offer Andreas Pereira to Leicester to seal Harry Maguire transfer as Ed Woodward baulks at £90m asking price
MANCHESTER UNITED could use young Brazilian ace Andreas Pereira as a sweetener in their bid to land Harry Maguire.
The Red Devils – just like neighbours Manchester City – are keen on signing the England defender from Leicester this summer.
However, they are unwilling to meet the Foxes‘ eye-watering £90million valuation of the former Hull man – which would be a world record for a defender.
United are aware that Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers is a big fan of their rookie midfielder Pereira, 23.
He tried to take him to Celtic during his spell in charge at Parkhead and may be tempted to have another go now.
United have discussed the idea of a new long-term deal for Pereira so would want to lose him permanently.
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They could offer a loan deal to the Foxes in the hope it would make a deal for Maguire easier to do.
Pep Guardiola has earmarked the Leicester defender as one of his top summer targets but City were also left stunned by the asking price.
Meanwhile, United have earmarked West Ham’s Issa Diop as a possible alternative but the Hammers are not willing to sell.
The club were forced to scrap their entire transfer policy after being humiliated by bitter rivals City.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ed Woodward rushed for late-night talks just 24 hours after the club’s derby-day defeat in April.
United followed up their 4-0 thumping at the hands of Everton with a 2-0 loss at the Etihad – having also lost 3-0 to Barcelona in a nightmare spell.
The horror late-season run of form prompted a major overhaul of the club’s recruitment policy.
The Red Devils are now keen to sign Aaron Wan-Bissaka to go with their done deal for ex-Swansea speedster Daniel James.