Manchester United are understood to have revived their pursuit of midfielder Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon following the injury setbacks for Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay.
The Red Devils are expected to be without McTominay until March with a knee ligament injury while Pogba is due to be sidelined for the next four weeks with a recent surgery on his ankle.
There are no assurances that the duo will return to first-team action as predicted and this appears to have encouraged the club to enter the transfer market for at least one midfielder this month.
According to The Mail, Fernandes has re-emerged as an option for United during the January transfer window after they were previously put off by the price tag for the midfielder (£70m as per TalkSPORT) last summer.
The same outlet suggests that the player’s representatives met up with United chiefs Ed Woodward and Matt Judge in London on Friday and Sporting president Frederico Varandas was also present in the discussion.
United showed a reluctance to meet Sporting’s valuation for the Portuguese last summer but it appears that they could find the breakthrough this month with Primeira Liga side likely to accept a reduced £55m fee.
Fernandes is capable of featuring in the central and attacking midfield positions, and he has found success in both of those roles this season while contributing 11 goals and 10 assists from 19 league and European games.
He does have some flaws in his game in terms of his tackling and average pass success rate (76% this term) but going forward, he is capable of providing through balls and key passes which have been regular missing in the current United midfield.
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