Manchester United have joined Liverpool in showing interest in Schalke centre-back Ozan Kabak, with the Old Trafford club keen on strengthening at the back in 2021 by finding a new long-term partner for Harry Maguire.
There are increasing doubts over whether Victor Lindelof or Eric Bailly have what it takes to tick that box, while Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo have already been seemed surplus to requirements. Axel Tuanzebe is well liked and offers promise, but United are still looking to the market.
90min already revealed in November that a new high quality centre-back is seen as a priority for United ahead of next season and Villarreal’s Pau Torres, who has a buyout clause of around £60m, is near the top of that shortlist in particular.
United have also been keeping a close on Dayot Upamecano at RB Leipzig, although more recently it has been suggested that interest in the Frenchman has started to cool, especially with Bayern Munich increasingly linked as well.
Also on the defensive shortlist are Sevilla starlet Jules Kounde, who was heavily linked with Manchester City last summer, Brighton’s Ben White and Leicester’s Caglar Soyuncu.
A report from the Daily Mail claims that United are also now keeping tabs on Kabak in their hunt for a new centre-back. The 20-year-old is already a full Turkey international and his valuation is thought to have fallen from £40m over the summer to around £25m now.
That is significantly less than Upamecano’s release clause at Leipzig in the region of £37m, and obviously only a fraction of the aforementioned clause in Torres’ contract at Villarreal.
But United are not alone in showing interest in Kabak. 90min revealed in August that Liverpool had made contact with Schalke about the player. Initially the relationship between Jurgen Klopp and David Wagner was a factor, although the latter left Schalke at the end of September.
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Source : 90min