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What's the News?
According to the Manchester Evening News, Olympique Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has revealed that Manchester United are interested in their French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele. The 22-year-old has also been on the radar of Juventus, PSG and Manchester City.
In case you didn't know..
Ndombele has had a stellar season for the French club Lyon and has been the prime target for Juventus and Manchester City this season as both the clubs are looking for permanent long-term replacements for the ageing Blaise Matuidi and Fernandinho respectively.
Ndombele attracted interest after his amazing performances in the Champions League this season for Lyon, having scored 2 goals and been instrumental in their unexpected group stage victory over Manchester City.
The Heart of the Matter
Jean-Michel Aulas seems very much interested in helping Ndombele grow his footballing career this summer, at any of the above mentioned European giants. But he seems inclined towards an offer from Juventus as Juve midfielder Miralem Pjanic was a Lyon product.
Talking to Italian news outlet Tuttosport, Aulas said, "It’s true that Juventus are after Ndombele. But there’s also PSG, Manchester United and City. I’d honestly like to see Ndombele at Juventus with Pjanic, a player we launched at Lyon and who I’m still very attached to."
Mentioning the Juve connection, he further added, "We’ll see what happens. I won’t talk about money. Economic parameters are the priority when selling players, but I’d like to sell him to (Juve chairman) Andrea Agnelli if all the offers were the same."
Aulas also further mentioned that Ndombele is very similar to his French counterpart Paul Pogba in terms of his playing style, but he believes that the former is a more complete midfielder than Pogba.
He said, "Paul was the leading light of a great World Cup with France but, as is normal, he paid a bit for the World Cup this season. Ndombele has been more decisive this season and is more complete for me."
What's ahead?
With rumours of Pogba leaving Manchester United for Real Madrid make rounds of newspapers every single day, United must look at some realistic options to replace their star midfielder.
Ndombele seems a very good option for the Red Devils and if Aulas' observations and comparisons of Pogba and Ndombele are supposedly even partially true, United could benefit from the move.
On a lighter note, Ndombele also has experience of beating Manchester City this season, and that could come handy for United in the recent turmoil that has been going on at the club.
