West Ham have put a £150 million price tag on Rice in a bid to ward off his army of admirers and there is a feeling any deal for him could be very difficult to pull off. The same could be true of another high profile player on United’s radar, England striker Harry Kane, who was denied a transfer to Manchester City by Tottenham last summer. United tried and failed to sign Jude Bellingham from Birmingham City before the England midfielder instead opted to join Borussia Dortmund in 2020.
But, while United remain big admirers of Bellingham, there is little expectation that the Bundesliga side would be prepared to let him and striker Erling Haaland – a target for Manchester City and Real Madrid – leave in the same summer unless outlandish sums of money forced a decision.
Elsewhere, United scouts were in Spain on Wednesday night to reportedly run the rule over Arnaut Danjuma, who scored the only goal in Villarreal’s shock 1-0 Champions League win against Bayern Munich. Danjuma, who joined Villarreal from Bournemouth last summer, terrorised United right back Diogo Dalot during his side’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Old Trafford in September. Ten Hag’s highly-rated young midfielder at Ajax, Ryan Gravenberch, seems likely to join Bayern Munich, but another of his players, Brazil forward Antony, is attracting interest from Premier League clubs. Ten Hag is a keen admirer of the 22-year-old although Ajax are hoping to keep him for another season.
There is also feeling at Old Trafford that this summer’s window could throw up some unexpected opportunities. There is, for example, still uncertainty at this stage about how the situation at Chelsea will unfold under potential new owners. Around a dozen United players are facing uncertain futures, with five, including Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani and Jesse Lingard, out of contract. United will look to reinvest money from any sales back into the transfer budget although that is another area in which the club – notoriously poor sellers over the past nine years – will have to improve.
