Man Utd have made an offer of £25m for Barcelona starlet Fermin Lopez as they look to get a deal over the line, according to reports.
The Red Devils are changing the way they recruit players under new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe with reports claiming that the British billionaire wants the Premier League club to only buy players under the age of 25.
Man Utd have wasted millions over the last decade on average players with huge fees spent on big names who failed to make the desired impact at Old Trafford.
But Ratcliffe is looking to change that and when asked in March of the chances of Man Utd buying Kylian Mbappe, he replied: “What I would rather do, I would rather find the next Mbappe, rather than spend a fortune to just try and buy success.
“It’s not that clever, is it? Buying Mbappe. In a way. Anyone could figure that one out. But what is much more challenging is to find the next Mbappe or the next [Jude] Bellingham or the next Roy Keane.”
The signing of Bellingham was suggested to Ratcliffe, despite the interviewer acknowledging there was ‘no chance’ of Man Utd signing the England international, to which Ratcliffe responded: “He’s a great footballer [but] it’s not where our focus is.
“The solution isn’t spending a lot of money on a couple of great players. They’ve done that, if you look at the last 10 years.
The first thing we need to do is get the right people in the right boxes, managing and organising the club.
“We must make sure we get recruitment right, such a vital part of running a football club is getting recruitment right, finding new players.”
Man Utd have already made a move for Jarrad Branthwaite at Everton with the Toffees knocking back an initial £35m bid for the young centre-back.
And reports in Spain claim that the Red Devils have also moved for another prospect with Man Utd putting a €30m (£25m) offer for Barcelona midfielder Fermin on the table.
But the Catalan giants rejected the ‘first proposal’ from Man Utd and Barcelona ‘does not consider it an offer up to the mark’ and ‘has no intention’ of letting him go.
It is understood that ‘the proposal is considered completely insufficient’ and Man Utd will have to ‘stretch much more’ to land the young Spaniard.
The report adds that ‘only a “savage” in the form of an offer would change his non-transferable situation’ with Fermin becoming ‘an important and decisive player, a footballer who dedicates himself and gives everything in games’.
