Man Utd ‘preparing £17m offer’ for potential signing No.4 as Ratcliffe makes Amrabat ‘decision’

Manchester United are reportedly “preparing” to submit a “£17m offer” for Colombia international Richard Rios, but they face competition for his signature.

The Red Devils have been busy during this summer’s transfer window as they have invested significantly to sign Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro from Bologna and Lille respectively.

Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his new-look recruitment team have since turned their attention to signing Uraguay international Manuel Ugarte from French giants Paris Saint-Germain. It was claimed over the weekend that his move to Old Trafford is ‘about to be completed’.

Signing No.4 lined up…

Man Utd are expected to make several more signings during this window and they reportedly have their eye on Palmeiras centre-midfielder Rios.

The 24-year-old has made 82 appearances for the Brazilian outfit since joining the club in 2023. His form for Palmeiras has seen him break into the Colombia squad and he’s been capped 13 times since making his debut last year.

Rios played in all six of Colombia’s matches at this summer’s Copa America as they were ultimately beaten 1-0 in the final by Argentina.

His performances have not gone unnoticed, as Italian journalist Rudy Galetti claims Man Utd are “preparing” a bid for the midfielder.

He tweeted: “#ManUTD recently approached Richard #Rios and are now preparing a £17m offer for #Palmeiras.

“#ACMilan are also interested in the 🇨🇴 midfielder, among the names on their list. At the moment, the 🇧🇷 club is oriented not to let him go this summer.”

READ: Simons, Ugarte, Olmo among Man United signings based on clear current transfer trend

Regarding potential exits, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed that a ‘decision’ has been made about Morocco international Sofyan Amrabat, who spent the 2023/24 campaign on loan at Man Utd.

Romano confirms Man Utd won’t “trigger the buy option clause for Amrabat”, but he could still return to Old Trafford ahead of the 2024/25 season.

In his Daily Briefing column , he said: “Manchester United have informed Fiorentina that they will not trigger the €20m buy option clause for Sofyan Amrabat.

“However, Man United remain interested in Amrabat and would be willing to discuss different conditions, as Erik ten Hag likes him. There’s also interest from other clubs.”

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The potential arrivals of Ugarte and Rios could lead to Scott McTominay leaving this summer, but Ten Hag is insistent that he “wants to keep” the Scotland international.

“We have very good players so there will always be an interest from other clubs,” Ten Hag said.

“When you score 10 goals in a season and also perform very good for Scotland, then there will be an interest.

“But we want to keep him because he is a very important player for our squad.

“What he can contribute, as we saw last season once we had our sixes available, he could play in a more advanced role and he is a highly interesting player for our team.”