€50m Man Utd signing ‘taken for granted’ by ‘insiders’ and Red Devils fight Liverpool for Dutchman | OneFootball

According to reports, Kim Min-jae’s move to Man Utd is already being ‘taken for granted’ by ‘insiders’ involved in the events at Napoli.

The Red Devils fell short in the FA Cup final as they were beaten 2-1 by local rivals Man City.

Man Utd were always going to be the underdogs heading into this game as there is a clear disparity between them and City heading into next season.

Reinforcements are needed if United are going to challenge for the Premier League title next season. While their priority is to sign a new striker, they could also buy a new centre-back with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof being linked with moves elsewhere.

Min-jae is a player they have consistently been linked with this season. He joined Napoli for £15m last summer and he has been in superb form for the Serie A champions.

There is a €50m release clause in his Napoli contract and this is expected to be activated by Man Utd this summer.

Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness) are reporting that ‘insiders’ around Napoli are now ‘taking it for granted’ that Min-jae will be a Man Utd player next season.

The report points out that an official announcement may not come until July. It has previously been noted that his release clause is only active for 15 days at the start of the transfer window.

Man Utd signed Lisandro Martinez last summer and he has formed a great partnership with Raphael Varane this season.

Martinez could have been joined at United by ex-Ajax teammate Jurrien Timber as the Netherlands international was also pursued by Ten Hag last summer.

Timber ended up committing his future to Ajax but he could leave the club this summer. United legend Jaap Stam thinks his former club are the “most logical solution” for the defender.

“The big advantage of United for Timber is that he already knows Ten Hag and vice versa,” Stam told Dutch outlet AD (via Sport Witness).

“The intentions of the trainer are moulded to Timber, but make no mistake: this is the Premier League. There you can’t always be dominant, you have to duel much more and that against strikers like Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.”

He added: “In England, I see United as the most logical option. And what I would like to see more often is Timber as a right back. There are at United, where Dalot without the ball and Wan-Bissaka on the ball don’t quite convince me yet.”

If Spanish outlet Fichajes are to be believed, United have Timber on their radar and he could be viewed as a potential alternative to Min-jae.

They claim United are going to ‘up the ante to beat Liverpool in the race for Timber’. They have been told that they ‘must pay at least 50 million euros’ to get him from Ajax.

Man Utd and Liverpool are both ‘willing to make an offer’ for the defender, but his current price tag is viewed as being ‘high’.