Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has reportedly lined up a £26m move for Napoli star Elseid Hysaj as a replacement for the outbound Matteo Darmian.
The Daily Star have claimed that Manchester United are interested in a deal to bring Napoli fullback Elseid Hysaj to Old Trafford. Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho is lining up the Albania international as a replacement for Matteo Darmian, who has failed to establish himself in the starting lineup under the Portuguese manager.
Elseid Hysaj arrived at Napoli ahead of the 2015-16 season after an impressive season at fellow Serie A club Empoli. The 22-year-old has since established himself in the Napoli starting lineup, starting 37 of the club’s 38 league games last campaign. The player has been impressive this season too, with 10 appearances under his belt in the league alone.
Jose Mourinho has deployed Antonio Valencia in the right-back position predominantly, while choosing to overlook the more natural option of Matteo Darmian. This is at odds with the Portuguese’s preference of deploying players in their more natural position, as he himself stated in his first press-conference as the United boss.
It is reported, however, that Mourinho does not like the skill-set that Matteo Darmian provides and is looking for another natural right-back to replace Antonio Valencia in the starting lineup. The Portuguese is set to offload the Italian, who arrived at Manchester United in the summer of 2015.
Mourinho is said to be setting his sights on many of Europe’s most coveted young right-backs, like Joao Cancelo and Benjamin Henrichs among others. And now, Hysaj has been added to the shortlist.
Manchester United have endured a tumultuous season thus far after a brilliant start, and there have been questions asked about the suitability of United squad to the tactics of Jose Mourinho. The manager had brought in 4 players during the summer transfer window, but based on the Portuguese’s actions and the recent performances, a bigger squad overhaul may be necessary.
While other areas may be reinforced as per Mourinho’s will, the fans are also in consensus regarding the strengthening the United defence, which has looked fragile and has quite a few players out with injuries.
United are lining up a £26m bid for the Napoli star, but as per the Daily Star report, the bid is likely to rejected by the Serie A outfit, who value the player much higher than that figure. Add to that the fact that Hysaj signed a new contract extension keeping him at the club until 2021, and it looks unlikely that Napoli would let the 22-year-old leave for anything but a huge transfer fee.
However, knowing United and Ed Woodward, if Mourinho does signal to the club that the player would be the perfect fit at right-back, the Red Devils would not shy away from pulling out all the stops to sign Hysaj.
