United are determined to secure a blue-chip player in this transfer window and are also reportedly weighing up moves for Real Madrid star Gareth Bale and Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller.
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However, could he have been playing us all along?
The Gunners have been tracking the France forward all summer but the latest is that United are in pole position to sign the 27-year-old.
It appears United have the edge on the Bundesliga side, however, after Zekhnini told Nettavisen that his “biggest dream” would be to play at Old Trafford.
FourFourTwo cited the Sun, reporting that United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward made a bid for Neymar while he was in Catalonia attempting to sign Pedro, who opted for a €30 million move to Stamford Bridge. English newspapers are very speculative.
Juan Mata and Javier Hernandez also spurned chances to give United what would have been their fourth consecutive win of the season but van Gaal insisted post-match the performance had no effect on his plans in the transfer market with 11 days of the window remaining.
United have already lost out to Premier League title rivals Chelsea and Manchester City in the race to Pedro and Nicolas Otamendi respectively.
“From now on we will see his evolution and how he responds to the physical demands we put upon him”, said Barcelona manager Luis Enrique.
That’s according to Spanish publication Marca, which says the 24-year-old is “currently living out his worst nightmare as a player”.
“He is just starting the season and will have to go through a normal recovery process”.
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“I have said three weeks ago that we shall evaluate it [the De Gea situation] on Sept 1”.
