FC Porto have reported lowered their asking price for 27-year-old left back Alex Telles this summer with Portuguese news source A Bola suggesting that the club will accept £18.5 million for the player with is a £9.2 million reduction from the £27.7 million fee previously quoted for the player. United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been seeking to sign a left-back this summer with Real Madrid’s Sergio Reguilon linked to the club but reports suggest that the player does not want to move to United.
Telles, 27, has been on United’s radar once before and nothing ever materialised under the management of Jose Mourinho and it is possible that the same thing could happen here with many players being linked to United, many of whom do not seem to be wanted by the club – which is what happens every time the transfer window opens. Clubs do not tend to comment on transfer speculation – it would be great if clubs denied any interest in players as it would make the media look pathetic.
The Sun has carried the reports from A Bola regarding the rumour of a reduced fee for Telles this summer, which could see United bring in an experienced left-back to rival Luke Shaw and also help Brandon Williams and Shaw develop in their roles at the club. The Brazilian will be out of contract at Porto next summer, so instead of losing the player as a free agent, they will earn some money from his sale instead, which seems to be good business from the Portuguese club, if the report is true.
During the 2019/20 season, Telles made a total of 49 appearances for Porto, scoring 13 goals and 12 assists, which is a great rate of goals from a fullback. If this form could be replicated at United in the Premier League, it would be a valuable deal for United, especially in that Shaw has not been the best player at the club of late with all of his injuries and the fact he ended another season on the sidelines, which was something that left United much weaker when playing in the UEFA Europa League.
Since arriving in Porto in the summer of 2016, Telles has made a total of 192 appearances, scoring 24 goals and 55 assists in the four seasons he has spent at the club. Before signing for Porto, Telles was playing for Galatasaray spending three seasons at the club, however, he was loaned to Inter Milan during his third, before being sold to Porto. For the Turkish side, he made a total of 60 appearances, scoring two goals and four assists and in his season at Inter, made 22 appearances, scoring no goals and one assist. Telles started out at Gremio in Brazil, making 39 appearances, scoring one goal and four assists.
It is suggested that United are the main interested party in the running to sign Telles this summer, although Chelsea, who has since signed Ben Chilwell from Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Paris Saint-Germain are also said to be interested in the Brazilian this summer. Telles was a standout performer for Porto last season as the club won the Primeira Liga and Taça de Portugal double. United have just three weeks to complete their summer business and they have a lot to do to catch up with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.
Written by John Walker
