Manchester United have made an attempt to sign Monaco midfielder Youssouf Fofana on loan before the transfer deadline.
United are still in the market for signings with three potential arrivals before Friday’s deadline.
Goalkeeper Altay Bayindir is coming in from Fenerbahce and it now looks like Tottenham Hotspur left back Sergio Reguilon will be arriving on loan too.
Another midfielder will then be the focus with another defensive option wanted in Ten Hag’s engine room.
Fabrizio Romano now reports that United have asked about a loan deal for Monaco midfielder Youssouf Fofana.
Inter have attempted a similar deal for Fofana but Monaco have stood firm, completely rejecting the notion of Fofana leaving on loan.
A hefty cash deal seems to be the only way Monaco would let Fofana go, which may rule out a deadline day move to United.
Who is Manchester United target Youssouf Fofana?
Fofana spent his time in a number of academies around Paris; Esperance Paris 19eme, Red Star and Drancy all took Fofana in.
It looked like Fofana’s dream of becoming a football star was fading as he turned to delivering pizzas in France.
Fofana started to rise with Strasbourg though, having made a 2017 move to join their B team.
After 34 appearances in the Strasbourg B team and 41 for their first team, Fofana was snapped up by Monaco in 2020.
Now with nearly 150 appearances to his name at Monaco, Fofana has become one of the top holding midfielders in Europe.
24-year-old Fofana also featured for France at the World Cup in Qatar too and has now picked up 10 caps.
United still chasing Sofyan Amrabat deal
United have been chasing Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat as the top defensive midfield target of late.
Links to Fofana and others – such as Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Ryan Gravenberch – have indicated that United are still looking elsewhere too.
Just after posting about the approach for Fofana, Romano also shared an update on United’s interest in Amrabat.
Romano claims that United will hold a new round of talks to sign Amrabat in the coming hours.
United and Fiorentina will attempt to thrash out a late deal with Amrabat still the runaway favourite to become Erik ten Hag’s new midfield addition.