Manchester United and Premier League rivals Arsenal are reportedly going to be locked in an ‘intense’ scramble for AS Monaco striker Wissam Ben Yedder according to reports. Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur will make it a five team Premier League battle with Real Madrid also suggested amongst the players suitors.
The 29-year-old France international was linked to United in the summer following the departure of Romelu Lukaku, who left the Old Trafford club for Inter Milan, but nothing materialised for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side with the club instead waiting until the January transfer window to sign Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo on a six-month loan instead.
The striker matches his 18-goal haul from the 2018/19 season in just 28 Ligue 1 matches this season, scoring another goal in the Coupe de France, making it 19 goals this season. Now that the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 seasons have been prematurely ended, that will be the strikers haul this season, also assisting nine goals in all competitions.
French news source, L’Equipe has reported that a £40 million fee should be something that the principality club manager to get for the striker this summer, whenever the transfer window opens after the Coronavirus pandemic stopped world football with some leagues ending their seasons and other still having plans to play them out.
United manager Solskjaer will be seeking to sign a new striker this summer and personally I would prefer the club to secure a long-term deal for Ighalo, who has done well since joining in January, scoring four goals and one assist in eight appearances in the Premier League, Emirates FA Cup and the UEFA Europa League.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta may need to find a replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer with the Gabon international linked with a departure from the North London club – who will be out of contract in 12 months time. Liverpool also seem interested but Timo Werner may be the striker for Jurgen Klopp, if a deal can be agreed.
Monaco signed Ben Yedder in the summer of 2019 after paying his €40 release clause from Spanish side Sevilla and are likely to not let him leave the club on the cheap. The Frenchman has scored 19 goals and nine assists in 31 appearances for Monaco, also scoring 70 goals and 22 assist in 138 appearances for Sevilla, and 71 goals and 22 assists for Toulouse.
“Barcelona could have happened much earlier for me.
“Last summer they made contacts for me, they collected a lot of information about me and the same was true this winter, but the move did not happen.
“It shows I am doing a good job, but despite this interest I am totally focused on my performances with Monaco.”
Ben Yedder was also linked to Barcelona last summer with the above quote form the player when he spoke to Onze Mundial. It just goes to show the varied interest in the player from a number of clubs in England and Spain, which could once again come to fruition this summer, as soon as the transfer window opens. Whether United are interested remains to be seen though.
