United eye £40m move for Gaitán
Manchester United have made Benfica midfielder Nicolás
Gaitán a target for the January transfer window, but will have to
meet a £40 million release clause to sign him. Gaitán, who
impressed during United’s 1-1 draw against the Portuguese club in a
Champions League group fixture last month, has been watched
repeatedly by Sir Alex Ferguson’s European scouting team in recent
months. As a result of interest from United, Inter Milan and Paris
St Germain, Benfica have secured the 23 year-old to a five-year
contract this week, which will see the Argentine more than double
his annual salary to £2 million. But despite increasing Gaitán’s
wages, Benfica have been unable to increase the release clause
within the player’s contract beyond the existing £40 million
trigger fee. United, who are also monitoring Anderlecht’s Argentine
midfielder Lucas Biglia, remain in the market for an attacking
midfielder after failing in summer attempts to sign Inter Milan’s
Wesley Sneijder and Samir Nasri, who favoured a move from Arsenal
to Manchester City.
The Sun claims Tomasz Kuszczak is set
for a cut-price departure from United during the January transfer
window. The goalkeeper has fallen behind David De Gea, Anders
Lindegaard and Ben Amos in the Old Trafford pecking order
and has been linked with a move to West Brom and
West Ham.
Elsewhere, Paul Hayward of the Guardian claims
Sir Alex Ferguson will rotate his side for
Saturday’s Barclays Premier League clash with Everton, dropping
several players from the side which lost 6-1
to Manchester City.