Over the past month or so, Manchester City have been dragged into a reported battle to try and sign Ismaël Bennacer from Milan.
The Algeria international has been in good form for the Serie A side, and Pep Guardiola was said to have contacted the player directly to propose his project to him.
They faced competition from Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, but now Manchester United, who could always do with some midfield reinforcement, have apparently joined the race.
This is according to Compétition in Algeria, who reveal United are, alongside their noisy neighbours, ‘following’ the situation and are ‘simply waiting for the green light’ from Milan to jump into action.
However, it’s said Paris Saint-Germain have picked up a head start by letting Bennacer’s agent know they are ready to make ‘big financial efforts to get him’.
The representative reportedly had a chat with Leonardo, the Ligue 1 side’s technical director, who put forward an offer of a five-year contract with a ‘fantastic’ salary.
Bennacer, down his end, has reportedly told Milan of this approach and its details without trying to force an exit.
PSG also placed a €40m bid, which isn’t what Milan want, but it’s believed adding €10m to that, thus taking it to €50m (quick maths), could ‘force them to think’.
We’re guessing that rule also applies to Manchester United, meaning Ed Woodward should now know what needs to be done if he wants to please Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who is slowly but surely turning the tide these days at Old Trafford.
The same, of course, can be said for those in charge at Manchester City.
