Man Utd & Liverpool battling over big-money deal to sign exciting South American

The January transfer window is open and managers are working hard on strengthening their squads and identifying targets for the summer so we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest rumours. Today, Man Utd and Liverpool are linked with Eder Militao…

Manchester United have joined Liverpool and Real Madrid in the race to sign £42.5m-rated Porto defender Eder Militao, according to reports via the Daily Mail.

Militao came through the youth ranks at Sao Paulo before joining Porto last summer and he’s been a huge hit in Portugal having produced some excellent performances in the Primeira Liga and Champions League over the past few months.

The 20-year-old has already been capped by the senior Brazilian team having made his debut back in September and the youngster is now attracting interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

It appears Militao has admirers here in the Premier League as the Daily Mail are citing a report from The Sun that claims Manchester United have joined Liverpool in expressing their interest in the defender.

However, the English duo will face stiff competition as the newspaper says Real Madrid are also in the running for Militao’s signature with the European giants all eyeing the South American’s £42.5m buy-out clause ahead of potential swoops.

Porto are reportedly keen to renegotiate Militao’s contract in order to increase his release fee but no doubt the player would be tempted should the likes of United, Liverpool or Madrid agree to pay his current clause.

Militao has predominantly been playing as a centre-back for Porto but he’s also capable of filling-in at right-back if needed so his versatility is sure to be an appealing quality to the likes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jurgen Klopp.

United have been scouring the market for a top class centre-back for some time as the look to tighten up their leaky defence and Militao could be viewed as an upgrade on the likes of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling if they could lure him to Old Trafford.

Liverpool on the other hand have had an excellent defensive record this season but doubts remain over Dejan Lovren while Joel Matip has had plenty of injury problems at Anfield so Klopp could be eyeing Militao as a replacement.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming weeks but it looks like United and Liverpool are ready to do-battle with Madrid if Militao decides to leave Porto any time soon and he’d be a hugely exciting signing for whoever won the race for his signature.