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What's the story?
Jose Mourinho's transfer tactics are hellish to decode. But amidst all the incertitude, the Red Devils determination to find a replacement for Michael Carrick is clear. According to The Guardian, United are now interested in Bayern's underwhelming signing from last summer, the 19-year-old Renato Sanches.
In case you didn't know...
Mourinho is the master of mind-games and he just loves to do dummy runs and hone his tricks to get his way every summer. Whether or not Alvaro Morata was a smokescreen that was intended to cause Conte to easing further into his chair as he obliviously pursued Lukaku remains to be seen. He has followed it up with a new cipher of sorts indicating he shall not be bullied into any deal by confirming that he is ready to bring down the number of signings from four to three (Zlatan Ibrahimovic hint or Perisic rebuff, who knows?!)
The fact remains though that United have been heavily linked with the likes of Nemanja Matic, Julian Weigl, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Fabinho. It's written large that Old Trafford is desperately on the lookout for a defensive midfielder.
Sanches, who moved to Bayern in the 2016 summer for £31.5m, has had an underwhelming season in Germany and the club is willing to let him go.
The heart of the matter
Michael Carrick's languid elegance, often understated and underrated, has been the backbone of Manchester United even in their dark days. With his retirement dangerously close, Mourinho has been in the market hunting for a defensive midfielder who can liberate the magician in Paul Pogba.
Conte, clearly, feels cheesed off about the Lukaku hijacking and says thanks but no thanks to United's offers for Matic. Monaco has resolved to stop being subjected to larceny and have closed the counter which means Fabinho is not leaving France this summer.
With their options diminishing by the day, United have now turned to the 19-year-old Renato Sanches who is for sale. Sanches, who was hailed as the next big heartthrob of the centre midfield, went on to have a below-par season, neither scoring nor assisting in 25 appearances for Bayern.
But Bayern's asking price of £40m is likely to receive only a smirk from Mourinho who'll want them to be more realistic about their demands for a 19-year-old who clearly has had problems showing up at the highest level.
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Author's take
Sanches burst onto the scene as the brightest young talent in Portuguese football a couple of years back. United were heavily linked with Sanches who chose to move to Bayern instead. Now, the Red Devils have revived their interest but will not be willing to shell out £40m for an under-performing teenager. The United fans will hope that Mourinho can extract the best out of the midfielder who has the goods but doesn't frequently put it on display.
With his entire career ahead of him, the Portuguese international could still become a world-class midfielder and a mainstay at Old Trafford. With big players and personalities like Paul Pogba, Lukaku, Mata, Mkhitaryan and Michael Carrick, the Red Devils could just be the unit that gives Sanches the push he needs.
