Manchester United can only sign Morten Hjulmand by triggering the release clause in his Sporting Lisbon contract, according to A Bola (today’s edition).
It was reported earlier this week that the Red Devils had made an approach to sign Hjulmand and they had offered Facundo Pellistri as a potential makeweight.
The proposal was swiftly knocked back by Sporting, who made clear that the Danish midfielder would not be leaving for less than his €80 million buy-out clause.
A Bola now reveal there was no such offer from United on the table. Sporting have not received any bids for the defensive midfielder in the current window.
The Portuguese publication reassert that Ruben Amorim’s side won’t contemplate the prospect of losing their prized asset for less than €80m this month.
United were probably scouting Hjulmand
The Red Devils’ interest in Hjulmand has come out of the blue. The Sun reported the story recently and in our opinion, they may have fabricated the proposal.
United were probably monitoring Hjulmand in action for Sporting and the UK outlet converted the same into speculation that the club are looking to sign him.
If there is any interest, we could only see an approach in the summer. The club are currently not in a position to spend due to their Financial Fair Play situation.
Hjulmand is a defensive midfielder by trade. He has had a good campaign with an average of 2.1 tackles and 5.7 recoveries per game with an 87 per cent passing accuracy.
He could be seen as a replacement for Casemiro this summer but not for the price mentioned. A deal would be worthwhile for €40-50m with add-ons included.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
