Manchester United have asked about the availability of a £50m+ rated winger, according to reports.
Man Utd transfer rumours
Manchester United had an up-and-down 2023/24 campaign. The Red Devils finished 8th in the Premier League, missing out on any form of European football through their position, but ended the campaign with an FA Cup triumph over rivals Manchester City to qualify for the Europa League. This victory was enough to see Sir Jim Ratcliffe keep Erik ten Hag in his role heading into the 2024/25 campaign.
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After making a decision on the manager front, INEOS and Ratcliffe's attention must now turn to the summer transfer window and reshaping the United squad. Speaking back in March, Ratcliffe dismissed the idea of signing superstar names like Jude Bellingham or Kylian Mbappe.
“He’s [Bellingham] a great footballer [but] it’s not where our focus is. The solution isn’t spending a lot of money on a couple of great players. They’ve done that, if you look at the last 10 years. The first thing we need to do is get the right people in the right boxes, managing and organising the club.
"We must make sure we get recruitment right, such a vital part of running a football club is getting recruitment right, finding new players. I’d rather find the next Mbappe, rather than spend a fortune to buy success. It’s not that clever to buy Mbappe, anybody could figure that one out.”
This policy is seemingly already in place with United recently linked to the likes of talented youngster Desire Doue and Lille centre-back Leny Yoro.
Man Utd make contact to sign "brave" £50m+ winger
Now, a fresh name, who fits Ratcliffe's stance of signing players who are not quite yet superstars, has emerged as a target for the Premier League giants. The player in question is Real Sociedad and Japan winger, Takefusa Kubo.
Kubo burst onto the sign in 2019 when he joined Real Madrid from FC Tokyo. However, he did not play any games for Real's senior side and was instead loaned out to the likes of Mallorca, with their chief executive, Maheta Molango, previously tipping the 23-year-old for success back in 2019.
"I was very, very impressed by Kubo when I met him," he said. "He's super humble, super down to earth. It's not easy to keep your feet on the ground when you've been a superstar since you were 10.
"Kubo is very focused, very professional. That's also down to his family, they're very humble and hard-working. His talent is obvious, but the reason why he will one day be a football superstar is his head. He sees things that other people don't see, the ability to see a pass and pick a long ball. His intelligence is outstanding. He is very skilled technically but also very brave, he's not scared of the ball and of taking on responsibility."
Kubo joined his current side, Real Sociedad, in 2022 and has scored 16 goals and provided 14 assists for the Spanish outfit. His displays for Sociedad have seemingly attracted the attention of some top Premier League sides with Mundo Deportivo [via Sport Witness] claiming the club are demanding €60m (£50.7m) for the Japanese star. The report goes on to name Manchester United as one of the five Premier League sides interested in the winger, with the Red Devils said to have asked about the player by making contact.