According to Correio da Manha (via SportWitness), Benfica president Rui Costa believes Manchester United will come close to their asking price for striker Goncalo Ramos.
Man United are on the search for a new centre forward and they have been linked with Ramos for some time. It is now claimed by Correio da Manha that Benfica manager Roger Schmidt prefers to keep Ramos for one more season, but Costa is open to selling him for the right price.
The 22-year-old international currently has a release clause worth £104 million in his contract, but he could leave the club for £69 million. As per Correio da Manha, Costa believes that United and Paris Saint-Germain will come close to the price tag with the market’s evolution.
Upcoming star
Ramos had a brilliant season with Benfica. He accumulated an impressive tally of 27 goals and 12 assists from 47 games. The Portuguese also made his mark with his national team at the World Cup in Qatar.
The youngster earned a surprise start ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the round of 16 stage against Switzerland and showed his class, scoring an exceptional hat-trick alongside an assist in the 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland.
United are one of those interested in signing him this summer and it remains to be seen whether they are willing to meet the demands of Benfica. The Red Devils are currently working on a reduced budget amid Financial Fair Play issues.
The club are likely to negotiate long-term payments on big-money deals. Ramos would be a superb purchase for the Mancunian giants, considering they have lacked the presence of a genuine goalscoring number 9 in the squad.
Marcus Rashford was terrific in the past campaign with 30 goals to his name, but he is more suited on the left wing than as a main striker. Anthony Martial showed promise with 9 goals, but was regularly out with injuries.
Ramos would be a fantastic coup for United as he could only get better with age and experience. Manager Erik ten Hag may prefer to sign him in the space of the next few days so that he is available for the start of pre-season.
