Man Utd might pull plug on agreed signing Ederson for two reasons – Fabrizio Romano

Manchester United have agreed personal terms with Atalanta’s Ederson and verbally offered €45m, though Fabrizio Romano has now explained why INEOS could abandon the move.

Man Utd will sign two new midfielders this summer and over the past week or so, reports have insisted they could wind up with three.

A move for Atalanta’s three-cap Brazil international, Ederson, looked to be up first. Ederson gave ‘total priority’ to joining Man Utd and actively disregarded rival suitors.

That led to Man Utd quickly agreeing personal terms on a five-year deal with the player. The Red Devils also verbally offered €45m, which hits the bottom end of Atalanta’s valuation range (€45m-€50m).

Discussions on a verbal basis between the clubs were said to be advanced. However, the latest from transfer guru Romano has explained why despite the efforts United have made so far, they could be the ones to abort the move.

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Why Man Utd could abort Ederson transfer

“Let’s clarify something,” began Romano on his YouTube channel. “There are two reasons, the first is Man Utd have to decide internally whether they want to proceed, to go and close the deal for Ederson, or whether they decide to go for different midfielders.

“Man Utd are still in that process of discussing internally, because they have several candidates for the midfield position, not only Ederson.

“So the Ederson deal is advanced with the player, for sure. They’re in conversations with Atalanta, for sure.

“Man Utd travelled with a delegation to Italy to discuss about Ederson and more for their transfer window, incomings, exits and more.

“So Man Utd have been busy in Italy, but at the moment it’s Man Utd who have to decide whether to proceed and close the deal or not.

“That’s why at the moment there’s no final green light. It could be any moment. Ederson is waiting for Man Utd.”

The second reason why this deal isn’t yet sealed, per Romano, is because there’s a “revolution” coming at Atalanta.

Atalanta are making changes in both their manager and sporting director positions. Maurizio Sarri is taking the former job.

Once the new hires are made, the “official negotiations” with Man Utd “can start”, but as stressed, United are still yet to determine if they want to push this deal over the line.

Essentially, Man Utd are ramping up negotiations and putting themselves in position to finalise the move if they determine Ederson is the right man for their midfield rebuild.

Generally speaking, clubs approach moves the opposite way by deciding they want to sign a player first and then making their move.

But with Man Utd chasing multiple midfield additions and dream targets like Elliot Anderson and Aurelien Tchouameni already looking out of reach, it does make sense for United to put the pieces in place to complete deals and then decide at a later date if they want to follow through.

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