Manchester United are set to sign £30m-rated Ander Herrera from La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. The Old Trafford club failed in an attempt to buy midfielder Herrera, 24, on transfer deadline day last summer. New United boss Louis van Gaal has revived the deal, which could be completed as early as Tuesday. Herrera, part of Spains Olympic squad at London 2012, would become Van Gaals first signing since he replaced David Moyes as manager. His arrival will address long-standing concerns about the strength of Uniteds midfield, which date back to Paul Scholess initial retirement in 2011. Until the arrival of Marouane Fellaini from Everton last summer, the club had not signed a central midfield player for six years. Fellainis difficulty in adapting to life at Old Trafford - he failed to score a single goal last season - and Ryan Giggss retirement in order to become assistant to Van Gaal highlighted the need to strengthen. It is not anticipated United will encounter any of the struggles that scuppered their previous attempt to sign the player, which included three imposters turning up at Spanish League headquarters supposedly to push through the transfer without the knowledge of either club. United are set to pay about £30m for Herrera, whose transfer fee was due to rise on 30 June under the terms of his contract. With Antonio Valencia and Patrice Evra both signing contract extensions, Van Gaal is already starting to put his mark on the squad even though he is currently manager of the Netherlands who are through to the last 16 of the World Cup. As yet there has been no fresh bid for Southampton defender Luke Shaw, who was the subject of a big-money offer from United prior to Englands dismal World Cup campaign. It appears there will be a left-back opportunity within the squad though as a fee has been agreed between United and Dynamo Moscow for Alexander Buttner, with some minor contractual issues to be sorted out. Van Gaals side open their Premier League campaign against Swansea on 16 August.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 10:03:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015