Ander Herrera emerged last season as one of Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho’s key lieutenants during the club’s run to the Europa League.
That form may have attracted the attention of Barcelona, back in Herrera’s native Spain.
The Catalan club is attempting to restructure its midfield this summer and would prefer Marco Verratti, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder.
The Independent reports that Barcelona thinks it can sign Herrera for around £35 million but that United would want at least £60 million before it will even consider selling the Spain international.
Herrera, 27, was praised several times last season by Mourinho for his intelligence and tactical awareness, qualities the Portuguese values highly.
Mourinho revealed after United won the Europa League against Ajax in May that Herrera had pleased him by going against his tactical instructions during that game at Friends Arena in Stockholm.
Herrera is expected to be a key figure in United’s revamped midfield this season, alongside Paul Pogba and the incoming Nemanja Matic. Selling him would put a brake on Mourinho’s preparations for the upcoming campaign.
All is still not well at Premier League champion Chelsea, where a power struggle seems to be emerging between manager Antonio Conte and technical director Michael Emenalo.
According to the Daily Star, Conte wanted Chelsea to sign prolific Torino striker Andrea Belotti this summer for £85 million.
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Instead, Chelsea appears to be closing in on Romelu Lukaku, a player Emenalo recommended to owner Roman Abramovich, for around the same amount.
The report also suggests Conte would be even more angry if Mourinho fails to land his first-choice striker in Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid and swoops for Belotti instead.
“Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” Leo Tolstoy wrote, and Chelsea seems to have found a new way to be miserable just months after its great Premier League triumph.
Elsewhere in London, Arsenal’s pursuit of Kylian Mbappe—which always looked like the longest of shots—has been abandoned, according to The Telegraph. Arsene Wenger will instead target Alexandre Lacazette of Lyon and Thomas Lemar of A.S. Monaco. These deals will become especially important if he loses Alexis Sanchez to Manchester City.
Source:Sports.yahoo