Manchester United rekindle interest in Kingsley Coman as a potential replacements for Jadon Sancho
Manchester United’s interest in Kingsley Coman, the French winger from Bayern Munich, has been rekindled as the club considers potential replacements for Jadon Sancho. Sancho’s future at United remains uncertain, despite his recent involvement in the pre-season tour.
United’s interest in Coman dates back to 2020, when they first attempted to sign Sancho. At the time, Coman was identified as a potential backup option should the deal for Sancho fall through. Although Coman expressed his commitment to Bayern, his future is now uncertain.
Bayern Munich’s willingness to sell Coman this summer has opened the door for United to make a move. According to Sky Sport Deutschland journalist Florian Plettenberg, Bayern is open to selling or loaning Coman, with an obligation or option to buy inserted into the contract.
Coman’s injury-plagued season last year limited him to just 17 Bundesliga appearances, but he remains a highly skilled and experienced player. His pace, skill, and versatility would make him an excellent addition to United’s squad, particularly if Sancho were to leave.
PSG is also interested in Coman, and the French champions may be considered frontrunners for his signature. As the transfer window progresses, United’s decision on Sancho’s future will likely impact their pursuit of Coman.
Man United have not seen the level of transfer activity that they would have hoped for so far this summer.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe shakes hands with Erik ten Hag at Wembley after the FA Cup final.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (right) has not overseen as much transfer activity as he would have liked so far.
With three weeks of the transfer window remaining, it is impossible to predict how Manchester United’s squad might look come the end of it.
Following an underwhelming 2023/24 campaign, United wanted to attack this summer’s window and put themselves in the best possible position ahead of the new season.
But the budget is tight and United knew they had to become more proactive in the seller’s market. The club has been notorious for failing to sell players at the right junctures in recent years.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News in February the club was planning for a squad exodus to break double figures this summer. With exactly three weeks of the window remaining, the Reds have offloaded just four players in return for a transfer fee thus far.
With just two new faces coming through the door it is clear United need to step up their efforts to get players off the books. A handful of members of Erik ten Hag’s squad have been heavily linked with exits to various clubs, but nothing has come to fruition since Mason Greenwood finalised his move to Marseille on July 18.
In United’s defence, as is proving the case with their own recruitment, it was always anticipated that a lot of Premier League clubs would leave the bulk of their transfer business until quite late on this summer as a result of the European Championship and the Copa America taking place in June and July. Players who were at those tournaments then went away on holidays, meaning the rate at which business has been done has slowed.
But with exactly three weeks to go, United are now in a race against time to get their wheeling and dealing done. It is no secret they want to sign another centre-back and source a much-needed holding midfielder, plus whatever else Ten Hag may believe is necessary, but for that to be possible they need to generate funds via player sales, with their net spend currently around the £50m mark.
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Looking at the current landscape of the squad, it is the sales of players whose contracts are up in less than a year’s time that United should be prioritising. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Hannibal Mejbri and Christian Eriksen now have less than 12 months remaining on their current deals and none of them have a long-term part to play in Ten Hag’s plans.
Wan-Bissaka is continuing to generate interest from West Ham United and Inter Milan, while Hannibal has been heavily linked with Rangers. Suitors for Lindelof and Eriksen have not been as forthcoming and United are not understood to be actively trying to push the latter out the door.
Scott McTominay and Facundo Pellistri have also entered the final 12 months of their deals at Old Trafford but United have the option to extend their stays by an additional year. McTominay has been the subject of heavy interest from Fulham and the Reds are open to letting him go if they receive an offer of £25m-£30m, which so far nobody has submitted.
Pellistri needs to leave for the sake of his own career. He spent the second half of last season out on loan and the speed at which Amad has developed in recent months has further dented his hopes of becoming a starter at Old Trafford.
There are also cases for United to try and cash-in on Jadon Sancho and Casemiro before the bell, but they under longer contracts. Sancho, however, could still leave if Paris Saint-Germain submit an enterprising offer.
The priority must be to try and shift those who are out of contract next summer and have no long-term futures at the club. The clock is ticking on those players and United are running out of time to move them on.
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