United in surprise £16m bid for World Cup winner

According to reports in Spain, Manchester United have agreed a deal for Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels, who could become United’s third signing this summer after Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera.

World Cup winner Hummels has been on United’s radar for over a year but there looked to be little chance of him leaving the Westfalenstadion this summer. According to Spanish newspaper Sport, however, United have agreed a €20m – £15.8m – for the German international.

According to the report, Dortmund have agreed to let Hummels go for just €20m, having secured the singing of 20-year-old centre-back Mathias Ginter just a couple of days ago and United looked poised to beat Barcelona in the race to secure Hummels’ signature.

There are, however, a few details that do not seem to make much sense at the moment. Firstly, the fee seems ridiculously low for a player who’s won two Bundesliga titles with Dortmund as well as a World Cup with Germany and who, even more importantly,  is under contract with his the Bundesliga outfit until 2017.

Despite being only 25-years-old, Hummels has played over 200 times for Dortmund since moving to the Westfalenstadion from Bayern Munich in 2009 and his international experience has contributed to make him one of Louis Van Gaal’s main targets this summer, as United look to replace Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.

Hummels would undoubtedly represent a formidable signing for United, particularly at the price indicated by Sport, and former United captain Bryan Robson insisted it’s paramount the club secures world class defenders this summer.

“When you lose three class defenders like that you need to bring in a really top-drawer centre-half to the club,” Robson told Press Association Sport.

“That would really give us a chance of winning the title.

“You look back over the years and United have had Brucey and Pally as a pairing, and we’ve had Nemanja and Rio more recently.

“Then we had Jaap Stam. He was a really dominant and aggressive player and we need one of those to come in to the club.”