Manchester United are on the hunt for a new holding midfielder this summer and have been linked to a number of names in recent months.
Nemanja Matic is in decline and the 31-year-old has started just 11 of our 29 Premier League matches this season.
Among the names linked to Old Trafford include West Ham United’s Declan Rice, Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi and Rennes’ 17-year-old prodigy Eduardo Camavinga.
However, signing any of those aforementioned players wouldn’t come cheap.
Reports in Italy are now saying that AC Milan holding midfielder Ismael Bennacer is available for €50 million (£45m), despite previous reports claiming this clause would only activate in 2021.
The report above also includes Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City as being interested in the 22-year-old.
The former Arsenal youngster was having a good start to his career at the San Siro prior to Serie A’s suspension in mid-Match. Bennacer only moved to the Italian giants in a €15 million (£13.5m) deal from Serie B side Empoli last summer.
However, Italian outlet Foot Mercato are now reporting that his clause will be active as early as this summer’s transfer window:
“Despite all the transalpine media specializing in the transfer window recently publishing … information concerning a clause valid from 2021, the reality is quite different,’ the outlet claims.
“Indeed, according to our information, Bennacer has a clause that is valid this summer.”
Manchester United have been linked with a move for Ismael Bennacer earlier this summer and now have to decide whether £45 million represents good value or whether to chase other targets.
Bennacer was voted the Player of the Tournament at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations when he helped Algeria win the competition for the first time on foreign soil.
He makes numerous challenges per match whilst also picking off passes of the opposition. He’s also good at bringing the ball forward to start attacks. One negative stat about the midfielder though is that he has picked up 12 yellow cards in his first 18 Serie A starts for AC Milan this season.
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