Manchester United join pursuit of La Liga defender

Manchester United have reportedly joined the pursuit of highly-rated Sevilla defender Clement Lenglet ahead of this summer’s transfer window. The 22-year-old has impressed for the Andalusian outfit since his arrival from Nancy last year and he is now understood to be attracting interest from some of Europe’s elite.
United boss Jose Mourinho has strengthened the defence over the past two years with the signings of Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly but the Portuguese is still understood to be discontent with the lack of consistency at the back.
As a result, the 55-year-old appears keen on pursuing a centre-back for the third summer in a row, and according to The Sun, Sevilla’s Clement Lenglet is leading their shortlist of targets.
The France Under-21 international was instrumental towards Sevilla ousting United in the Champions League round of 16 stage and Mourinho has since been impressed by the centre-back, who is supposedly being monitored by the club’s scouts.
Despite this, the Mancunian giants are unlikely to get a free run for the £20m-rated defender with Spanish heavyweights Barcelona having already initiated talks with their La Liga rivals.
As such, United are prepared to raise the player’s valuation further and The Sun suggests that they could lure the Frenchman ahead of the Blaugrana by offering him a better salary package.
Manchester United have had their best Premier League season in over five years but they have still been outclassed by arch-rivals Manchester City, who have cruised towards the English crown.
Regardless of United’s lean challenge, Mourinho has no plans to match the Citizens in terms of summer spending and the focus is more on covering areas of the field where they have been hampered with injuries in the past.