Manchester United have enjoyed a tough start to the summer transfer window and now look set to miss out on all three of their top targets ahead of the new season.
After finishing third last campaign, it was believed that the Red Devils would continue to strengthen heavily this summer under Erik ten Hag’s stewardship, and they had lined up Chelsea’s Mason Mount, Manchester United striker Harry Kane and Napoli defender Kim Min Jae as targets to lure to Old Trafford before September’s deadline.
However, a move for Harry Kane looks very unlikely with Tottenham keen not to sell their talisman to a Premier League rival despite the Englishman having just a year left on his current deal in north London.
Now, it appears that they have also been thwarted in a move for Kim, who is understood to have a release clause written into his current Napoli contract which will become active in the first week of July.
Unfortunately for the Red Devils, however, they are not the ones in a position to activate it, with Bayern Munich now in the final stages of tying up a deal for the South Korean defender just 12 months after he made the move to Serie A.
It is believed that the Bundesliga giants have reached an agreement with the defender over a five-year deal, meaning that all Bayern Munich will have to do at this point is pay the release clause to sign a defender over £50m for the second consecutive season.
The London side were thought to be under pressure to sell players before the 30th June in order to meet financial fair play regulations, and Mount was a candidate for that heading into the final year of his contract in west London.
However, Mateo Kovacic has joined Manchester City and Kai Havertz has moved to Arsenal for a combined £95m (including add-ons), which has helped balance the books at Stamford Bridge and made the sale of Mount less of a pressing issue.
That, plus contract uncertainty surrounding goalkeeper David de Gea and ongoing questions over ownership, having made it a difficult start to the summer for the Red Devils, who remain on the hunt for a striker, central midfielder, centre-back and goalkeeper before the new season starts.
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