Manchester United interested in AS Monaco midfielder Youssouf Fofana, race with Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain | OneFootball

Manchester United have made big moves recently, with Richard Arnold’s exit from his CEO post confirmed.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s era of sporting control is moving closer and the hope among fans is that the new regime will bring positive changes on and off the pitch.

In that vein, Fabrice Hawkins reports that United are “closely monitoring” the evolution of the AS Monaco midfielder Youssouf Fofana.

United are joined by European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus in the race for the defensive midfielder.

Although the links to the player are not new, the prospect of a move now is more realistic than ever. That is because Fofana shares extensive history with the incoming regime at the club.

Juventus and PSG have been linked to the player, and both the clubs are ones where potential new United CEO Jean-Claude Blanc has worked before and would logically have contacts.

Furthermore, United’s prospective new Sporting Director, Paul Mitchell is the person who discovered Fofana and brought him to AS Monaco.

Therefore, the player will clearly be highly rated by the new regime at United. Most importantly, the Frenchman will fulfil a position that is becoming an increasingly urgent one to address.

Casemiro’s drastic dip in form has coincided with Sofyan Amrabat not looking comfortable as the defensive midfielder.

Consequently, Erik ten Hag has been forced to persist with a defensive axis of Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen, neither of whom are natural defensive midfielders by trade.

Reinforcements in that area are crucial for United in the summer, if not January. With Monaco in the Champions League spots, extracting him from the Monegasque outfit’s hands will be difficult mid-season.

Therefore, while this transfer is not likely to happen in the short term, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Fofana rocking up at Old Trafford next summer, ready to lead the club as one of the new regime’s first signings.