Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Man Utd make several scouting trips after learning 24-goal striker wants Prem move

Manchester United have made multiple scouting trips to observe Benfica striker Darwin Nunez, who wants a Premier League transfer, it has emerged.

Nunez has become one of the most in-demand players outside Europe’s top five leagues over the past couple of years. The Uruguay international has been prolific in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.

This season, for instance, he has scored 24 goals, having started the same number of games in all competitions. And at the age of 22, he still has margin for improvement.

The place to fulfil his potential could be the Premier League. A number of English clubs have been considering making a move for him in that regard.

According to 90min, Manchester United are one of the interested parties. In fact, they are said to have watched him more than six times in the past six weeks.

Finding a new centre-forward could be one of the tasks Man Utd need to address in the summer. Getting one of Nunez’s age would secure their long-term future beyond the spells of Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani at the club.

But they are not alone in their pursuit of Cavani’s international colleague. Also in contact with Nunez’s representatives are West Ham – who tried to take him in January – as well as Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle and Aston Villa.

West Ham have been lacking competition up front since the sale of Sebastien Haller in January 2021. London rivals Arsenal could also be light in that area if Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah leave on free transfers in the summer.

Darwin Nunez doesn’t want to move to Newcastle and prefers London

Darwin Nunez doesn’t want to move to Newcastle and prefers London

Benfica striker Darwin Nunez doesn’t want to leave for Newcastle and would prefer a London move to Tottenham or Arsenal

Meanwhile, Tottenham could be looking for a successor to Harry Kane if someone like Man Utd themselves can prise him away. The England captain is back on the radar of the Red Devils.

Newcastle and Aston Villa, for their parts, will not have European football on offer next season. But both are showing ambition towards that direction in the medium-to-long-term.

Darwin Nunez takes inspiration from Luis Diaz

Darwin Nunez celebrating for Benfica

Any choice from the six would give him the chance to fulfil his goal of playing in the Premier League.

After Luis Diaz also made a move from the Primeira Liga to England in January, Darwin Nunez has taken encouragement that he too could make an impact like the Liverpool new boy.

It remains to be seen for which club he would be doing so. Man Utd may fancy their chances if they are willing to stretch their budget. That said, there have been doubts about how much they may spend this summer.

90min‘s report claims Benfica will be hoping to receive a fee in the region of £65m to let Nunez go. That would give them a profit on their club-record £21m investment from 2020.

It seems a transfer may benefit all parties. Now, it is merely a matter of waiting to see how Nunez finishes the season and where he subsequently lands.

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