Man Utd, Chelsea fight for ‘last-minute’ signing of ex-Barca flop with Red Devil ‘set to seal’ January exit

In partnership with

Football365

·30 January 2024

Man Utd, Chelsea fight for ‘last-minute’ signing of ex-Barca flop with Red Devil ‘set to seal’ January exit

According to reports, Manchester United and Chelsea are chasing to sign former FC Barcelona flop Martin Braithwaite from Espanyol.

Man Utd and Chelsea are yet to sign anyone during this month’s transfer window as the two Premier League giants are being impacted by their respective Financial Fair Play issues.

OneFootball Videos

They will not do significant business until the summer but it has been claimed in recent weeks that they are scouring the market for a low-cost striker signing.

The Red Devils paid an initial fee of around £64m to sign Rasmus Hojlund in the summer but with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial out of form, Erik ten Hag has been made to be over-reliant on the inexperienced striker.

Chelsea meanwhile have struggled in front of goal over the past couple of seasons. Summer signing Nicolas Jackson has been unable to hit the ground running and they are expected to spend big to bring in Victor Osimhen later this year.

For now, the two Premier League clubs reportedly have their eye on Braithwaite as a short-term solution.

The Denmark international – who previously had a spell in England with Middlesbrough – signed for Barcelona in 2019 from La Liga rivals Leganes.

The 32-year-old only grabbed ten goals and five assists in his 58 appearances across all competitions for Barcelona. Currently on loan at La Liga 2 side Espanyol, he has 13 goal involvements in his 24 outings this season.

The Sun are reporting that Man Utd and Chelsea are ‘both keen on signing former Barcelona man Braithwaite’. The report adds.

‘The clubs both need to strengthen their forward lines and are battling it out to bring the Espanyol striker to the Premier League. ‘The January transfer window comes to an end on Thursday at 11pm. And Braithwaite – who is also a successful businessman with a £216m empire – could end up being a last-minute signing. ‘An unusual detail in the striker’s contract means Chelsea and United would prefer to sign him this summer. ‘He currently has a £6million release clause in his contract, which expires next summer. But should Espanyol get promoted, he will be able to leave for free. If the club remains in the second tier the forward will be worth £500,000.’

Up until now, Man Utd have been focused on offloading several unwanted talents this month. Jadon Sancho, Donny van de Beek and Hannibal Mejbri have headed out on loan and they are about to be followed out of the door by Facundo Pellistri.

The young attacker is set to join La Liga outfit Granada on loan. On Tuesday morning, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano tweeted: “Understand Granada are finally set to seal the deal for Facundo Pellistri on loan from Man United today! It’s imminent after long negotiations.”

He later added: “Manchester United and Granada are now exchanging documents for Facundo Pellistri loan deal. Time to check and then it will be done.”