Man Utd make ‘first offer’ to Barcelona with Man City target to ‘replace’ Flick’s ‘sacrifice’

Manchester United have reportedly submitted their ‘first offer’ to FC Barcelona for Spain international Pedri and they are willing to let him leave.

The Red Devils have been active in the transfer market this summer and are expected to make at least three more signings before the window closes later this month.

Having already spent around £90m to sign Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee, co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his recruitment team are ‘expecting’ to sign Bayern Munich pair Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, who are likely to cost around £60m combined.

Man Utd are also in the market for a new centre-midfielder. PSG and Uruguay star Manuel Ugarte has emerged as a leading target, but they are also being linked with Pedri .

The 21-year-old joined Barcelona from Las Palmas in 2020 and has already made just short of 150 appearances for the Spanish giants across all competitions.

At the end of 2021, Pedri won the Golden Boy award after being named the best player aged under 21 in Europe, but he was impacted by injury last season.

He grabbed four goals and five assists in his 34 appearances for Barcelona across all competitions, but only started 16 La Liga matches.

At Euro 2024, the Spain international made four appearances but missed his side’s last two matches after suffering an injury against Germany in the quarter-finals, which was later diagnosed as an inner ligament stretch of the knee.

Luckily for Pedri, his injury was not as severe as first feared and he’s returned to training ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

READ: Six reasons Man Utd optimism is misplaced ahead of 2024/2025 season

However, it is not all good news for the midfielder, as his future at Barcelona is said to be in doubt.

According to a report in Spain, Pedri is in a ‘very compromised situation’ ahead of Dani Olmo’s ‘probable arrival’ from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig.

If Barcelona are going to sign Olmo, who has also been linked with Man City , a ‘sacrifice’ is required and club chiefs are ‘not opposed’ to selling Pedri.

It is claimed that Man Utd are currently his most likely destination, as their ‘first offer’ for the Spaniard has ‘reached’ 60 million euros (£51m).

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The report explains.

‘It has been leaked that there is already a team willing to pay 60 million euros, that is to say, practically the same as it would cost to get Dani Olmo from the Red Bull Arena.

‘Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have been strongly linked with Pedri’s admirers in recent times, but appear to have lost interest in a player who has continued to devalue himself.

‘On the other hand, Manchester United would be willing to bet on him, and to negotiate with Barça. But they won’t come close to the 100 ‘kilos’ it was worth at the time, and for now, they only pay 60.’