Fenerbahce are reported to have received an offer for Manchester United target Yusuf Akcicek from a Premier League club.
The 19-year-old centre-back is currently plying his trade under former United boss Jose Mourinho, though his side were eliminated from the Europa League after losing a penalty shootout against Rangers on Thursday.
Akcicek has been linked with a move to the likes of Napoli, RB Leipzig and Atletico Madrid, while Bayern Munich’s scout coordinator Gurkan Karahan will reportedly be in the stands to watch his match against Samsunspor on Sunday, but the defender was supposedly the subject of a bid from England.
Fanatik quote the club’s Vice President Acun Ilicali as saying: “We had a verbal meeting for Yusuf. After the Anderlecht game, a sporting director from the Premier League texted me saying, now it’s £20 million, but we don’t plan to sell him.”
Reports from Turkey suggest that the club are willing to accept an offer in the region of £33m, with Aston Villa said to be keen on securing the defender’s signature.
Is Ratcliffe building a team for the future?
During his tenure as United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has implemented a number of controversial cost-cutting measures in an attempt to improve the club’s financial health.
The Red Devils’ financial struggles has seen the recruitment team focus on signing younger talents on the cusp of first-team appearances, poaching the likes of 16 year old Chido Obi-Martin and 19 year old Ayden Heaven from Arsenal.
Heaven was handed his first start as a United player against Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday, and his composure with and without the ball was impressive.
Though many players in the upcoming transfer window could prove to be prohibitively expensive, perhaps United will be able to get by as long as their young stars develop as planned.
How far away are United from competing?
Ruben Amorim has struggled to implement his unique style of play during his time at Old Trafford, and he will arguably need a complete overhaul of his current squad in order to make his back-three system function correctly.
Patrick Dorgu represents the Portuguese manager’s only signing so far having arrived in January, but he has not been able to make much of an impact so far considering his side are currently 15th in the table with 34 points after 28 matchweeks.
While United have signed promising young stars, they are unlikely to be able to contribute to the team as regular starters, and that may limit the improvements that Amorim is able to make in the short term.
If results go against Amorim at the start of next season, scrutiny on his position as boss will undoubtedly ramp up regardless of whether he has been allowed to shape the team in his image.
