Man Utd approach for sublime Ugarte alternative confirmed, with ruthless Ratcliffe ready to hijack agreed deal

The hunt is on for an alternative signing to Manuel Ugarte and THREE sources have detailed Manchester United interest in a France international who could abort an agreed transfer in favour of moving to Old Trafford.

Man Utd had initially intended to sign Ugarte and Bayern Munich pair, Matthijs De Ligt and Noussair Nazraoui, to bring their summer signings tally to five. Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro were arrivals one and two.

Personal terms were agreed with all three of Ugarte, De Ligt and Mazraoui. Five-year deals with club options for sixth seasons were sealed.

However, Man Utd are finding it difficult to close on each of the deals for contrasting reasons.

Firstly, Mazraoui’s arrival hinges on first selling Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The right-back has verbally agreed personal terms with West Ham, though a club-to-club agreement on the fee isn’t yet in place.

Elsewhere, Bayern are refusing to budge on their demand of €50m plus add-ons for De Ligt. As yet, United have been hesitant to pay that price.

But while those two deals remain in play and on United’s agenda, their move for Ugarte has all but collapsed.

David Ornstein broke the news on Monday, with Man Utd cooling their interest after PSG made it clear they’re sticking to their lofty €60m price tag.

As such, Man Utd have begun to explore alternatives, with Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad), Sander Berge (Burnley) and Youssouf Fofana (Monaco) among those linked.

Today’s update regards 21-cap France international Fofana who has already agreed personal terms with Italian giant AC Milan.

However, there is still a significant gap in what Milan are willing to pay and what Monaco would greenlight a sale for.

Fofana has entered the last year of his deal at Monaco and will be allowed to leave for the right price. Reports claim Monaco hope to generate a fee in the €25m-€35m range.

However, even that relatively modest fee is proving troublesome for Milan and three separate sources all suggest Man Utd are a genuine threat to hijack the move.

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Man Utd to shatter AC Milan dream?

Firstly, Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg revealed Man Utd had already made contact with Fofana’s camp roughly two-three weeks ago.

Taking to X, Plettenberg revealed: “Manchester United have made contact with the agents of Youssouf Fofana to explore a potential deal this summer! It was 2-3 weeks ago when Man Utd have presented their projects and plans.

“At this stage, they have not yet made a concrete offer to Monaco for the 25-year-old central midfielder.

“Fofana still has a verbal agreement with AC Milan about a contract until 2028. But no agreement between AC and Monaco yet.”

Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport have confirmed Man Utd are exploring a move for Fofana in the wake of shelving their Ugarte interest.

A follow-up on X from the piece’s author, Luca Bianchin, made further positive reading for United, though Fofana does still favour Milan for the time being.

“Manchester United are the first real threat to Milan for Youssouf Fofana,” wrote Bianchin. “Fofana has opened up to United (there is no offer yet) but still prefers Milan.”

Furthermore, Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio strongly suggested a transfer hijack is there for the making if Man Utd desire it.

Di Marzio reported: “The distance (on transfer fee) between Milan and Monaco remains important for Fofana.”

The trusted reporter added: “if the player were to open up to United, who have not yet made an official offer, this could be a problem for Milan.

“An insertion that in any case destabilises the negotiation and above all gives strength to Monaco, which has a much higher request for the player compared to what has been the offer of Milan up to now.”

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