Manchester United are planning to bring in a new central midfielder this summer and their hunt for the same has now led them to Barcelona’s young star, Fermin Lopez.
The 21-year-old had a pretty solid season with 8 goals in 31 La Liga appearances and Man United have just made a formal offer for the Barcelona youth product.
However, as per Spanish outlet SPORT, Barca have promptly rejected the offer as they are not interested in offloading the youngster, not at least for such a bargain transfer fee. He signed a four-year deal just last year and his market value is €30 million which means Manchester United have basically offered his market value straight up.
Will Barcelona look to hold onto Fermin Lopez instead of selling him to Man United?
It’s hardly a surprise that Barcelona have rejected this offer from Man United and even though Barca are in need of massive funds, as per some rumours, the Catalans will only sell Fermin Lopez if they receive a crazy offer for the youngster.
With three years remaining on his contract, Barca will hope of getting at least €60-70 million for the central midfielder but there’s no way United will agree to pay that much for the 21-year-old.
The Premier League side have also been linked with Frenkie de Jong and they would much rather spend €80-90 million on the Dutch international instead of paying a premium for Fermin Lopez.
FDJ is one player who has been on Ten Hag’s wishlist for a really long time and he will be a much better central midfield recruit than Lopez.
Manchester United know very well that Barcelona need funds which is probably why they put in such a minimal offer for Fermin Lopez and while Barcelona will hope to receive a better offer for the midfielder, we don’t think Ten Hag’s side will be coming back with an improved bid any time soon.
Barcelona need at least €100 million if they want to sign their priority targets and the easiest way for them to reach this target is by selling their high-value players like De Jong and Araujo instead of bringing in smaller amounts by offloading academy graduates.
