Manchester United have a €17m (£15.7m) deal in place to sign Feyenoord’s left-back Tyrell Malacia after hijacking Lyon’s attempt to buy the 22-year-old Netherlands international.
Lyon had a verbal agreement for Malacia of €12m plus €3m in add-ons and were waiting for the player to travel for a medical and sign a contract but on Monday night United jumped in.
They had a proposal accepted of €15m plus €2m in add-ons and Feyenoord’s technical director, Frank Arnesen, was quoted by the Feyenoord news site 1908.nl as saying: “The agreement is there. We are now waiting for Tyrell. If he says yes, then a transfer to Manchester United is imminent.” West Ham also made a late attempt to sign Malacia.
Malacia has played 136 times for Feyenoord, where he came through the academy, and has five caps after being given his Netherlands debut last September by the former United manager Louis van Gaal. Luke Shaw and Alex Telles were United’s principal options at left-back last season.
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Malacia shares an agent with Frenkie de Jong, the Barcelona midfielder targeted by United’s manager, Erik ten Hag. United are hopeful of signing De Jong, another Netherlands international, after getting closer to an agreement over a fee. Talks are progressing well and the initial price could be €65m (£56.1m) with add-ons taking the price to about €85m.
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United had an opening offer of €60m plus a potential €10m in add-ons rejected by Barcelona. De Jong worked with Ten Hag at Ajax and has been the prime target of the manager, who coached United’s players for the first time on Monday. – Guardian
