United set to miss out on defensive target

Manchester United are set to miss out on one of their top defensive targets, according to the Mirror.

Aymeric Laporte, the Athletic Bilbao defender, will reportedly join Spanish champions Barcelona next summer for a fee of £35 million.

Barcelona have been under a transfer embargo, and they have not been allowed to register new signings until January, but the Blaugrana have been targeting players for next summer and Laporte is one of the top targets on their shortlist.

However, Laporte has given no indication that a move would be imminent. Speaking to AS recently, the 21-year old said:

My name is mentioned in every transfer window and with a lot of teams. I’ve renewed four times with Athletic. I’ve done what I wanted, I’ve shown confidence in the club and them in me. Let’s see if we can add more trophies.

The French under-21 international has been regarded as one of Europe’s top young defenders, and missing out on his signature could be a huge blow for Louis van Gaal, as United scouts had been tracking him as a potential signing.

The Reds are still reportedly looking for a top quality centre-back, after missing out on Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos this summer. Although Chris Smalling and Daley Blind have started well in the centre of defence this summer, and Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo are competent back-ups, van Gaal still regards this as an area where United need to strengthen.