Manchester United are set to make one final bid to sign Mats Hummels from Borussia Dortmund.
Hummels was one of the star performers at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil where he made a number of startling performances for Germany as they ultimately won the competition. Hummels even scored the winning goal against France in the quarter finals, as he powered a firm header past Hugo Lloris before then putting in a strong defensive performance too to help seal the victory.
Because of his work in Brazil, Hummels has been heavily linked with a move away from Dortmund. United are in desperate need of reinforcements in defence too, as during the summer they lost Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic to QPR and Inter Milan respectively.
They now only have Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling to fill the centre back slots, and the fact that Van Gaal, who only took over at Old Trafford last month after David Moyes’ disastrous year-long tenure at the club, plays three centre-backs means that there is literally no cover in case of injuries of suspensions.
Hummels, despite only being 25-years-old, possesses great experience in the position. With Dortmund he has played in a Champions League final, plus he was one of the key players that led them to Bundesliga glory in 2011 and 2012. It’s believed that Dortmund are adamant that they won’t sell Hummels to United though, and they have even made him club captain in an attempt to keep him in Germany.
United will test their resolve with a bid of a round $50million. But if they don’t succeed, Van Gaal is then set to try and sign Daley Blind from Ajax instead. This comes after his other defensive target, Thomas Vermaelen, completed his move to Barcelona on Friday.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are also set to join in the race to try and sign Hummels too. Wenger is looking to replace Vermaelen with the German, and they now have the cash readily available after Barcelona paid close to $25million for the Belgian.
United are also thought to be hopeful of completing the signing of Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina too over the next few days. United are willing to pay Fiorentina $35million for the Colombian striker, who alongside James Rodriguez, was one of the best Colombian players at the World Cup.
The Red Devils are likely to sell the likes of Javier Hernandez, Nani, Anderson and Rafael to fund these arrivals.
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