Man Utd & Arsenal Face Tough Battle To Land £47m-Rated Star

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 City are ready to move for Arsenal and Man Utd target Mats Hummels.

Arsenal and Manchester United will face stiff competition from domestic rivals Manchester City for the signature of German defender Mats Hummels this winter, according to reports.

Hummel’s future at the Westfalenstadion has been thrown into doubt in recent months as talks over a contract extension continue to stall and understandably he’s attracting interest from a number of top European clubs.

Arsenal have been strongly linked with a move for the German international with boss Arsene Wenger recently admitting he needs to strengthen at the back after failing to bring in an adequate replacement for Thomas Vermaelen in the summer.

The North Londoners lack of depth in defence has been exposed in recent weeks with Nacho Monreal and Mathieu Debuchy forced to play as make-shift central defenders while Laurent Koscielny has been out injured, so it would be no surprise to see the Gunners bring in another option this winter and it appears Hummels is on the radar.

Manchester United have also been tipped to make a move for the player with reports suggesting that Louis van Gaal has identified Hummels as a key target after seeing his defensive options decimated this season due to a number of injuries at the back.

The likes of Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Jonny Evans have all spent time on the treatment table in recent months so a reliable centre-back looks to be on the agenda in January and Hummels would be a sensational coup for the former champions.

However, it looks like the duo will now have to fend off serious competition as the Express are reporting that Manchester City are now lining-up a £47m bid for the German World Cup winner.

City skipper Vincent Kompany looks set for another spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury at the weekend and with Matija Nastasic set to leave and Eliaquim Mangala far from convincing following his move from Porto in the summer, the newspaper suggests that Manuel Pellegrini wants to take Hummels to the Etihad to shore up his defence in January.

Dortmund are keen to hang on to their captain but they remain in the bottom three of the Bundesliga table after a disastrous start to the season so their poor form could lead to the defender pushing for a move.

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Whether that would happen in January remains to be seen though as Dortmund are through to the knockout stages of the Champions League and have been drawn to play Juventus in the last 16, so it would be a surprise if they agreed to let one of their key men leave mid-season.

We’ll have to see how things develop but it looks as though Hummels will have plenty of options if he wants to try his luck in the Premier League with Arsenal, City and United all supposedly keen on luring him to England.