Man Utd Transfer News
Man Utd Quoted €25m For Brazilian International, Personal Terms Already Agreed
Atletico Madrid have told Man Utd they will accept €25m for Joao Miranda with the defender believed to have agreed personal terms over a switch to Old Trafford
With the January transfer window fast approaching managers are formalising their plans to strengthen their squads ahead of the second half of the season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Manchester United are linked with Atletico Madrid defender Joao Miranda.
Atletico Madrid have informed Manchester United they will accept €25m for Joao Miranda with the defender already believed to have agreed personal terms over a switch to Old Trafford, according to reports.
United were strongly linked with a move for Miranda in the summer with some reports even suggesting the player had began house-hunting in the Manchester area ahead of a proposed move.
A deal failed to materialise in the end as United chiefs refused to meet the 30-year-old’s €30m (£24m) release clause – much to the disappointment of the player as it’s believed he had his heart set on a switch to Old Trafford.
However, Miranda may yet get his ‘dream’ move as the Express are reporting today that Atletico have reopened talks with United and told them they are now willing to lower the asking price to €25m (£20m) this January.
The newspaper suggests that with the Brazilian international’s contract due to expire in 18 months, Atletico are now ready to cash-in as they know his value will drop considerably in the summer. Plus, the La Liga side have a ready-made replacement in Uruguayan youngster Jose Gimenez, who has broken into the first team set-up this season.
It remains to be seen whether a £4m discount will be enough to tempt United into buying an ageing centre-back, but they must be serious about doing a deal as the Express claim that Miranda has already agreed personal terms and is just waiting for the two clubs to agree a fee.
United have recovered from a disastous start to the season and currently sit third in the Premier League, but Louis van Gaal is understood to still be keen on strengthening his defence after seeing virtually all of his centre-backs spend time on the treatment table in recent months.
Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Jonny Evans have all seen their seasons disrupted by various injury problems so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see United bring in another option, but I’m just not convinced Miranda should be the answer.
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He’s certainly an excellent defender, but £20m is a huge investment for a player whose now the wrong side of 30 and will have very little sell-on value in a couple of years, so I’d personally be surprised if the United money-men agreed to this deal. But stranger things have happened so we’ll just have to see how things develop over the coming weeks.
