Manchester United are ‘ready to pay’ to sign Benfica star Enzo Fernández as the race for his signature heats up.
That’s according to Correio da Manhã, who say the Reds will present a proposal ‘above‘ the €120m release clause in the midfielder’s contract and are ‘at the forefront’ of the queue.
They explain that Manchester United are battling Graham Potter for the World Cup winner, who every major club in Europe is now chasing after his exploits in Qatar.
The player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, has been ‘gathering’ proposals ready to submit them to Benfica and one of them is from Manchester United.
The Portuguese club would like to keep their star man but any bid worth his release clause would leave them with little power if the player pushes for the move to the Premier League or elsewhere.
Thus, Benfica are preparing to make a sale that will break the record set by João Félix’s departure in 2019, when they cashed in €126 million.
They fail to mention who this bid would be from but state that Mendes ‘will hand Rui Costa’ a ‘crazy offer’ for Argentina player that could exceed the money brought in for Félix.
Benfica have already received a €100m offer from an unnamed party for the 21-year-old, which was immediately refused. Any bid of €120m or more would take the situation out of their hands.
It does not mean an immediate departure, though, as Fernández will decide his own future and could decide to stay in Portugal until the end of the season. That is certainly what Benfica are hoping will happen but the player ‘will always have the final word’.
O Jogo, meanwhile, say that Costa has already received two proposal for €127m and knows he could receive another worth €130m before too long.
According to them, Fernández’s departure is an ‘inevitability’ given his performances at the World Cup and the number of clubs who are keen on him.
They fail to name these suitors but do name Manchester United and Chelsea as those pointed out elsewhere but do say Benfica are already planning for life without the Argentina international and have eyed up Racing midfielder Carlos Alcaraz to replace him.
Any bid for him will depend on what they get for Fernández, who, depending on the newspaper, is now the subject of, or is set to be the subject of, bids worth between €120m and €130m.
