Manchester United has apparently seen a second bid rejected for Barcelona teenage winger Ansu Fati, this time upped to £135 million which included performance-related variables, according to reports. The 17-year-old burst onto the scene in the Barca first team this season and has received praise from the likes of Lionel Messi and other teammates.
United were reported to be interested last week when reports of an £89 million bid, which was rejected, first emerged. It would seem that United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is highly interested in the teenager, who could become the next best thing in world football and a player that United would be looking to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Times is the source for the reports that United have seemingly upped their bid but the Catalan club will be seeking the full £151 million release clause to be paid in order to sell the player this summer. It would seem that United might have to pay that sum of money to land the player that seems to have stirred their interest ahead of the summer.
The 17-year-old is a good talent and with reports already suggesting that Barcelona intend to put every player up for sale this summer, apart from Messi, Antoine Girezmann, Gerard Pique, Frenkie de Jong, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Fati who are seemingly safe but United, activating the release clause could change that. Club director Xavier Vilajoana said:
“For us, there’s no story with Ansu, we have never spoken about selling him.
“We won’t use players from the academy to make cash.
“In principle, we have no intention of selling the players we believe will make the first team.”
Barcelona intend to raise funds by selling Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, Ivan Rakitic, Nelson Semedo, Samuel Umtiti and Arturo Vidal – however, United probably don’t have any interest win these players and the transfer fees will be quite high for their ages. If United come back with £151 million for Fati, Barcelona would have something to think about.
