Manchester United set to challenge Man City with £68 million signing

Manchester United’s much delayed contest against Liverpool was worth the wait for the neutrals and the Merseysiders, but it was a nightmare for the Red Devils. 

Jurgen Klopp’s men blew Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side away with furious ‘heavy metal’ football, as the German lovingly calls it, as a brace from Roberto Firmino and goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah cancelled out strikes from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.

It was a pulsating end-to-end affair; however, Liverpool were far and away the better side and would have won by a far greater margin with better finishing.

Former United captain and Solskjaer’s team mate Roy Keane reserved extra condemnation and criticism for the Red Devil’s midfield.

The Irishman said to Sky Sports: “Look at the performance of the two midfielders.

“McTominay is a good, honest player, and they’ve got Fred.

“As long as those two players are in midfield for Manchester United, they will not be winning any big trophies.”

According to news reports from the Daily Star, United may be set to upgrade their midfield by targeting Atletico Madrid midfielder Marcos Llorente.

Llorente has 12 goals and 11 assists in La Liga this season.

The 26-year-old Spaniard has been an enormous player for Diego Simeone’s side, who are top of La Liga with only two games to go.

He also would have been very handy for United against Liverpool, as he scored a brace against Klopp’s side in Madrid’s Champions League Round of 16 tie at Anfield, knocking Liverpool out of the competition.

United bolstered their midfield last summer with the £40 million signing of Donny van de Beek, however, he is yet to be given a consistent run of games and is almost looking surplus to requirements.

Atletico are keen to keep Llorente and have allegedly sped up contract talks to keep him at the Wanda Metropolitano.

It is believed United could test Atletico’s resolve with a monstrous £68 million bid, which would make Llorente the club’s third most expensive player ever.