Manchester United and Chelsea are locked in battle to secure the services of Atletico Madrid’s Brazil International defender Joao Miranda according to report in the Telegraph. .
The Atletico Madrid defender, 30, is out of contract next year and both Premier League clubs are keen to buy him this summer in a cut price deal. Atletico Madrid are worried that they will be forced to sell the defender who has been an important cog in the title winning wheel as well as on their march to 3rd place this season.
Both, Chelsea and Manchester United have been in the market for a central defender to compensate for either a faltering or an ageing backline.
Real Madrida s Raphael Varane has long been Mourinhoa s top defensive target, but the arrival of Rafael Benitez at the Bernabeu could prevent a deal this summer.
Manchester United have also been pursuing a deal for Hummels and Otamendi with the former reluctant to leave Germany and the later having a price tag of 55 milion Euro slapped on him by the Valencia president. Miranda appears to be a cheaper alternative for both side.
And while Miranda does not appear to have had a better season than any of the targets of the two club, it is worth noting that he played only 23 games in the league owing to hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for a number of days. Miranda will come at a price that will be peanuts in comparison to any of the other targets of Manchester Uniteed and Chelsea.
Miranda was on the verge of joining Manchester United 12 months ago and even reportedly said goodbye to his Atletico team-mates after the Champions League defeat to Real Madrid but the 22 million price tag and Atletico’s reluctance to budge from it scuppered any deal. This time, with only a year left to his contract, Miranda has already met with Atletico officials over his future and has once again told friends and team-mates that he could leave the club.
Atletico Madrid, though, want to re-sign left-back Filipe Luis from Chelsea, which may mean that Mourinho will have the upper hand in the battle for Miranda.
