Manchester United face competition as Premier League club launch €30 million move to sign Sofyan Amrabat: Reports
Fulham have reportedly launched a move to sign Manchester United target Sofyan Amrabat. The Cottagers are in talks with Fiorentina over a €30 million move for the Moroccan midfielder.
As per journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, Fulham are planning for João Palhinha's possible exit and have thus made a move for Amrabat. The Fiorentina star has not be training with his team and is waiting for a move to Manchester United.
However, the Red Devils have not been able to raise funds for the move and had their loan offer for the midfielder rejected. Fiorentina CEO Barone admitted that the player is keen on leaving and said:
"Sofyan's not working with the squad — but we have still not received any bid for Amrabat this summer. If there are players who are unhappy here, we can start considering bids for them, of course."
Fulham have now jumped in and are trying to lure him to London. They have an offer from Bayern Munich for Palhinha and see the Moroccan as the perfect replacement.
Sofyan Amrabat has been on Manchester United's radar since Janaury
Manchester United have reportedly been chasing Sofyan Amrabat since his impressive performance at the FIFA World Cup last year. The midfielder was also on Barcelona's radar but they moved to sign Ilkay Gundogan instead on a free transfer.
The midfielder's agent, Mohamed Sinouh, confirmed the interest to CalcioCmercato and said:
"We received many offers during the January transfer window, including one from Manchester United, but an agreement cannot be reached. Barça? The president of Fiorentina refused to let him out because he represented a safe value after the role he had played in the World Cup. Barca came with a loan offer for Sofyan two or three days before the market closed, but they were unable to include a compulsory purchase option and that was the end of it."
He added:
"Sofyan was very keen to go to Barca and very hopeful that the whole operation could happen because the 'Cules' did offer a good amount for the loan, but Fiorentina did not let him go. I can name three clubs that went for him in the last two or three days of the transfer window. ManUtd wanted a loan with an option to buy and Fiorentina turned it down."
However, Manchester United are facing FFP issues and reportedly cannot afford to sign the midfielder on a permanent deal this summer without any sales. Harry Maguire's possible move to West Ham United was going to be key, but the defender opted to stay.