‘Ten Hag really likes him’ – Manchester United at head of queue for 18-year-old pivot

Royal Antwerp will travel to Spain today for their Champions League group match against Barcelona.

They won’t be playing at the Camp Nou, as the old ground goes under redevelopment, but instead at the old Olympic stadium in Montjuïc.

Nevertheless, it will be a huge evening for the Belgian club and their players, with Catalan newspaper Sport focusing all eyes towards Arthur Vermeeren.

That’s where Manchester United are brought into the picture, with it claimed ‘Ten Hag really likes him’, and the Red Devils are the club who like him most.

Manchester United have been linked previously, although the claims haven’t been strong and are largely driven by the Spanish media.

The interest in Spain is because Barcelona are also thought to be keen on the midfielder, and that interest is covered again by Sport today.

They saw the match gives the 18-year-old the chance to ‘try to show off in front of Xavi’. Barcelona have been monitoring the player for a while, and therefore Tuesday’s match presents a big opportunity for him.

Sport present a quote from Royal Antwerp manager Mark van Bommel, although they don’t make it clear when it’s from: “I will not give any information about Vermeeren because if I did, Xavi would sign him immediately.”

As well as reportedly being of interest to Manchester United and Barcelona, West Ham and AS Monaco are also said to be keeping an eye on the young pivot.