Manchester United are reportedly nearing a £23 million move for Real Madrid left-back Sergio Reguilon this summer. Spanish news source Marca, also considered as the mouthpiece of the Madrid club has reported that United want to purchase the player without a buyback clause attached to his contract, something which has been mooted in the past week or so. It was also suggested that Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane had also come to terms with the fact a buyback clause was not wanted.
At the weekend, it was suggested that Reguilon would have rather re-signed for Sevilla this summer, however, the Spanish club have seemingly signed Marcos Acuna from Sporting Clube de Portugal, negating the need for the 23-year-old left-back at the club this summer. United have also been linked to FC Porto left-back Alex Telles, who is a more attacking left-back but had scored 13 goals and 11 assists during the 2019/20 season for his club, which is something that could be utilised for United, going forward.
The Madrid club are now said to be seeking to insert a buyback clause which could be activated in a season or two, just in case the player blossoms in the Premier League. This is not something that United would accept unless it was at a higher fee than they had paid for the player and that it would only be available for a short period of time, not something that would be in the favour of the Madrid club. Madrid could ask for a first refusal if the player was ever to be sold, which might work both both clubs?
Reguilon had a good season for Sevilla, ending it with a trophy with the club winning the UEFA Europa League for the sixth time in the clubs history, beating United in the semi-final stage of the competition, whcibwas played out in Germany only last month. In Madrid, both Ferland Mendy and Marcelo will be ahead of him in the pecking order at the club, resulting in very few, if any first team minutes in the game, which would be something that could hamper his development as a player.
United will need to remain firm with Real Madrid regarding the buyback clause, maybe even paying a slightly inflated fee to avoid that being part of the contract. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s hopes of signing the Spanish left-back seemed to be fading at the weekend with Reguilon said to rather a return to Sevilla this summer, but the pending arrival of Acuna from Sporting would scupper that from happening, leaving the player with one other option – signing for United this summer.
Solskjaer is said to want some competition for Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams this summer with Shaw ending the 2019/20 season on the sidelines through injury, which seems to be the story of his United career and Williams still requiring some development before he can be considered a regular fullback for United. The teenager can play at both left-back and right-back, so could rival Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the squad too, also playing in a more advanced position in the team, which he has played alongside Shaw at times over the past season.
Written by John Walker
