Man Utd plot major Barcelona raid, with flop to be replaced by one of three quality stars

Manchester United are aiming to replace Aaron Wan-Bissaka with a top right-back signing this summer, and Barcelona star Jules Kounde has reportedly appeared on their three-man shortlist.

Man Utd spent £50million when signing Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace in July 2019. Since then, the full-back has played 182 games in all competitions, helping the Red Devils win one League Cup.

Wan-Bissaka is fantastic defensively and regularly manages to keep top forwards at bay. But throughout most of his Man Utd career he has been criticised for his lack of threat in the final third.

It is hard to argue against this criticism, as the Englishman has managed just two goals and 13 assists in those 182 matches.

Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag is aware of Wan-Bissaka’s limitations and prefers to use Diogo Dalot at right-back. Although, Wan-Bissaka has still shown his versatility amid Man Utd’s defensive injury crisis by operating at left-back.

Amid his deep dive into the goings on at Old Trafford, Man Utd chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe has identified right-back as an area of weakness. As such, the British billionaire wants to offload Wan-Bissaka and bring in a new right-back to compete with Dalot.

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On Sunday, it emerged that Man Utd have held talks over the potential capture of Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong.

But according to an update from Italian reporter Rudy Galetti, Frimpong is one of three classy right-backs Man Utd are tracking.

Man Utd in for Barcelona’s Jules Kounde

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Galetti reveals that Man Utd are also interested in raiding Barcelona for Kounde.

The Frenchman is ‘appreciated a lot’ by Man Utd officials due to the fact he can also play at centre-half. His signing would therefore kill two birds with one stone for Man Utd.

The third name on Ratcliffe’s wish list is Denzel Dumfries, who looks set to win the Serie A title with Inter Milan this campaign.

Should Man Utd prioritise a move for Kounde and end up taking him to Old Trafford, then they would be succeeding where Chelsea failed.

After the 25-year-old’s fantastic season with Sevilla, Chelsea came close to signing him in the summer of 2022. But the Blues were left frustrated when Barca charged into the transfer race and ended up taking Kounde to Catalonia.

So far, Kounde has managed 81 appearances for Barca, helping them lift one La Liga title and a Spanish Super Cup. Barca would ideally like to keep Kounde at the club, though his sale would help increase their transfer funds.

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