Fabrizio Romano claims Ten Hag insists on dream LaLiga raid, but must perform bold Man Utd U-turn
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag remains intent on landing Barcelona full-back Sergino Dest, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Dest now looks destined to leave the Camp Nou after a summer of uncertainty. Apparently Xavi has made it clear to the 21-year-old that his future lies away from the club. And interest in the player has been rife, according to Sport.
A number of offers have come Dest’s way with Romano reporting fellow LaLiga club Villarreal have made a loan proposal. Dest is said to be open to the idea and talks with Barcelona are ongoing.
But the paper suggest Dest in fact is favouring a move to Old Trafford. Romano says it’s down to Dest, with Barca hoping to free up his salary and a squad place.
The former Ajax man has a number of proposals to work through, but Sport insist he “has opted” for Ten Hag’s men.
United are hoping to push through a straight loan, with no fee. The Catalan club will even pay a percentage of the player’s wages such is there desire to deregister the player.
It all looks to be going the way of United, but one major hurdle remains in place.
And both Sport and Romano make it clear that Aaron Wan-Bissaka must be moved on first. Sport say “an exit must be found” with West Ham and Crystal Palace interested in his services.
Ten Hag is insistent on having cover at right-back. But he will let Wan-Bissaka depart if the arrival of Dest is guaranteed.
Wan-Bissaka U-turn
Ten Hag knows all about Dest, who was born in Holland. He gave the defender his break at Ajax and is understood to be a big fan of the player.
Former Palace man Wan-Bissaka has only played four minutes in the Premier League this term and Ten Hag wants more competition for Diogo Dalot.
Romano also relays a similar scenario and reports that Dest’s arrival is “a possibility” but only if Wan-Bissaka departs.
That would represent somewhat of a U-turn on Wan-Bissaka.
Only this week The Athletic claimed that Wan-Bissaka was not going nowhere. Man Utd “do not intend” to move the 24-year-old on before Thursday’s transfer deadline, said the outlet.
United spent £50m on the right-back in 2019 and he proved a cornerstone of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team. In fact, he missed only seven Premier League games in his first two seasons. But Ten Hag has other ideas with Dest at the forefront of his thinking.
