Kim Min-jae, a defender for Napoli, is apparently up for grabs, and Manchester City and rival Manchester United are reportedly in a bidding war.
The 26-year-old, known as "The Monster," is thought to have a £40 million release clause and is drawing a lot of interest.
Since joining the Serie A leaders from Fenerbahce for £15 million last summer to replace Kalidou Koulibaly, Min-jae has established himself as one of the top center backs in Italy.
But after only a year, he might already be moving on, according to The Sun, which claims that both Manchester clubs are interested in the South Korean international.
The news source also states that Pep Guardiola is a major fan of the defender, who is rumored to be interested in joining the Premier League.
At the back for City, there are Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, and Aymeric Laporte; however, the latter's future is doubtful because of his slide down the hierarchy.
This season, Stones and Ake have also been utilized as inverted full-backs, indicating there is room for a third center-back.
Min-jae, who has played 30 times for Napoli across all leagues, had previously been connected to both Liverpool and Tottenham.
Min-jae has long been a favorite of Spurs, and former manager Jose Mourinho is also a fan.The Portuguese, who is currently in charge of Roma, has admitted that while he was at Spurs, he tried to recruit Min-jae.
“I can tell you a story about one of their players," he said.
“I spoke to him on FaceTime and wanted to buy him at Tottenham, but Tottenham didn’t help me.”
Fenerbahce president Ali Koc, who asserted that Spurs were hesitant to meet their requests, backed up his assertion.
Jose Mourinho wanted Kim Min-Jae (in 2020)," he disclosed.
But (Spurs) failed to pay the required £12.3 million.
Raphael Varane's return date
Raphael Varane could feature for Manchester United again this season, according to manager Erik ten Hag.
The French defender was substituted at halftime after suffering an ankle injury in the first leg of Manchester United's disappointing Europa League quarterfinal match against Sevilla 10 days prior.
Although the club stated that Varane would miss "a few weeks" of activity, there were legitimate doubts as to whether he would play again this year. Varane hasn't played since.
Ten Hag was questioned about Varane's availability for the final against Manchester City on June 3rd at the same venue after United's FA Cup semi-final win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday at Wembley.
This was good news for United, who already lost Varane's colleague in the center of defense, Lisandro Martinez, to a season-ending metatarsal injury suffered in the same match against Sevilla. The Argentinian has surgery since then and won't be ready until the following season.
For the first time this season, Ten Hag was obliged to transfer his left-back Luke Shaw inside to partner Victor Lindelof in the center of defense since United club captain Harry Maguire was suspended for the FA Cup semifinal match against Brighton.
Over the course of two hours, this improvised duo put on a strong display, preventing Brighton from scoring and laying the groundwork for United's victory. In the suspenseful penalty shootout, Lindelof, who was named the game's man of the match, scored the winning penalty.
"It was a difficult game,” Ten Hag reflected afterwards. “I think it was a great battle for the fans, especially for the fans at home. It was a great final. In the end, the penalties were really good as well. It was so close and, of course, I am very happy with the performance of the team."
"They were so determined, so dominant to win this game and from the first moment, there was only one thing in mind. We have to win this game. So the willingness was really high.”
Ten Hag was especially happy with how his players performed at Wembley after United's 3-0 loss to Sevilla last week saw them eliminated from the Europa League.
“The criticism was justified on Thursday night but, in the semi-final the lads deserve compliments and credit because they bounced back once again, they showed character,” Ten Hag said.
“What we have to learn and improve, which must be our next step, is that if we have a setback in a game, we fight back in that same game, that we keep calm and fight back in that same game. We have to deal with setbacks and we can do it better but in between games, and it’s not the first time, we do it very well."
Bruno Fernandes a doubt for Man United's Thursday clash with Tottenham
The FA Cup final victory by Manchester United against Brighton at Wembley was marred by the discovery that Bruno Fernandes was hurt.
The Portuguese player appeared to roll his ankle during a challenge in the first half of the match. He was later observed limping, and in the first session of extra time, he was replaced.
He would have taken one of the penalties if he had been in shape, but the management chose to remove him out of concern for his safety.
According to ESPN, the Portuguese may miss Thursday's crucial Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur due to an ankle injury.
“Sources have told ESPN that there were conversations on the bench about substituting Fernandes at the time of his injury and at half time, but he was determined to continue. He was eventually replaced during the first half of extra-time."
“The Portugal midfielder was limping as he left Wembley Stadium after the game but was not wearing a protective boot."
The decision regarding whether or not he may practice with the team this week and play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will be made on Monday, according to sources who spoke to ESPN.
The current top-four struggle between the Reds, Newcastle, and Spurs has given the game extra weight.
After the London team was humiliated by the Magpies, United may increase their lead to nine points with a win and still have two games remaining.
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