‘No chance for Man Utd’ – Chelsea shatter Ten Hag dream with deal agreed and medical booked

Erik ten Hag has seen a second transfer in one position slip through his fingers, with Fabrizio Romano confirming Chelsea’s coup after Man Utd talks came to nothing.

The Red Devils have strengthened the spine of their team this summer, with a new goalkeeper (Andre Onana), central midfielder (Mason Mount) and centre-forward (Rasmus Hojlund) either signed or on the way.

The elephant in the room in that regard is centre-back, though it’s not for the lack of trying.

Indeed, Man Utd were understood to have installed former Napoli defender, Kim Min-jae, atop their centre-back shortlist.

However, a move hinged on first ditching a centre-back of their own and United have thus far not received satisfactory bids for Harry Maguire.

West Ham have seen both a loan bid and a permanent offer worth £20m knocked back. The Red Devils reportedly value Maguire closer to £40m.

As such, the door was left ajar for Bayern Munich who wasted no time in snapping up Kim. Per Fabrizio Romano, Man Utd’s primary alternative to the South Korean was Axel Disasi of Monaco.

Both Man Utd and Newcastle were in the hunt for the 25-year-old France international. Indeed, in his latest column for Caught Offside, Romano confirmed talks took place with Disasi’s camp.

However, it’s Chelsea who leapfrogged the pair and struck an agreement with Monaco on Sunday. In lieu of Wesley Fofana undergoing surgery to repair an ACL injury, the Blues swooped for Disasi who’ll compete with Thiago Silva at right centre-back.

Now, according to Romano, there is “no chance” of Man Utd launching a late hijack on Chelsea’s move.

Chelsea figure “especially” keen on Disasi; Man Utd frozen out

“Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has a new centre-back with a deal for Axel Disasi from Monaco,” said Romano. “Here we go.

“An agreement is in place for the €45m deal – it will be completed this week, with a medical already booked for Monday, and right after that Southampton’s Mohammed Salisu will replace Disasi at Monaco.

“Despite previous interest, there is now no chance for Man Utd or Newcastle to sign Disasi; they always spoke to player’s camp but never sent any official bid to Monaco.

“The whole Chelsea board were keen on Disasi, but especially Lawrence Stewart (co-sporting director with Paul Winstanley), who had the player at Monaco.

“They already signed Benoit Badiashile from Monaco in January as well, but another new centre-back was also needed after the injury to Wesley Fofana.”

Whether Man Utd will explore a move for whoever is third on their centre-back shortlist remains to be seen.

Again, any such move is likely to hinge on Maguire being sold first.

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