Manchester United are reportedly confident of signing Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez during the summer transfer window.
Saul Niguez has come up through the ranks at the Spanish club and during the past couple of seasons, he has been an integral part of Diego Simeone’s side.
This season, the midfielder has already played 26 La Liga games for Atletico Madrid having scored three goals in the process.
And as per reports, Man United scouts watched him in action during the Spanish side’s win over Liverpool in the Champions League a couple of weeks ago and it seems like they have been pleased with what they have seen.
Saul Niguez will cost somewhere around £135million in transfer fees primarily since he still has five years left on his current deal at the club but gathering that amount might not a big concern for the Manchester United management.
Saul Niguez a replacement to Paul Pogba?
Man United are expected to lose Paul Pogba in the summer with the Frenchman hinting a few times that he wants to move out.
And there have been some rumours that Man United will not stop him if he wants to join a new club but instead, they will demand a big transfer fee for the World Cup winner so that they can be able to fund his long-term replacement.
So naturally, if United can offload Pogba for a big transfer fee then paying a 135 odd million for Saul Niguez should not be a major headache for the club.
But what we can safely say is that this potential move of Saul Niguez to Old Trafford solely depends on where Paul Pogba wishes to play next season.
UPDATE(3rd April 2020):
Saul Niguez has a buy-out clause of £132 million at Atletico Madrid but as per the latest updates, Ed Woodward is not ready to pay such a steep price for the midfielder.
During the past couple of seasons, Man United have wasted a lot of money in trying to bring in star players into the squad and most often than not, these players have failed to live up to the hype.
But under Solskjaer, Man United seem to be working in a different way with the management making it clear that they will only be ready to pay half of what Atletico are demanding for Saul Niguez.
And invariably this is the exact same amount that Man United reportedly want as the transfer fee for Paul Pogba meaning the OT outfit do not want to spend any amount on Saul Niguez out of their own pockets.
So while at first glance it might look like Man United are making things hard for themselves but clearly they have made a transfer blueprint and Ed Woodward is not ready to sway from it anytime soon.
