West Ham has reportedly lined up Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier as an Aaron Wan-Bissaka backup, so two Manchester United moves might go through at the same time.
Man Utd moved quickly to bring Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee over the line. Deals for players like Matthijs De Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, however, are difficult to close.
The reason for the delay in De Ligt’s case is the transfer price that Bayern Munich is requesting.
The German behemoths have not yet indicated that they will lower their high asking price of €50 million plus add-ons. Bayern wants the majority of that €50 million, if not all of it, paid in cash and not in installments.
Man Utd and fellow Bayern player Mazraoui have reached a personal agreement. Sixth season club options are available on five-year contracts that are ready to be signed.
But a bid for Mazraoui has also stalled, as Manchester United maintains that Wan-Bissaka must be moved before the Moroccan can get there.
After Wan-Bissaka and West Ham orally agreed to personal terms around a week ago, everything appeared to be somewhat simple.
However, Man Utd and West Ham have not yet agreed on the transfer amount and terms of payment despite multiple rounds of negotiations.
It’s understood that the Red Devils are looking for a payment between £15 and £18 million. Wan-Bissaka, who is in the final year of his contract, is valued at merely £10 million by West Ham, in comparison.
Mazraoui’s transfer will either stay on hold or, worse yet, perhaps fall through if Wan-Bissaka decides not to sign with West Ham.
A recent report from the Telegraph suggests that West Ham might decide not to pursue the Wan-Bissaka transfer in favour of acquiring Kieran Trippier.
After Ben Johnson left the Hammers via free agency to join Ipswich Town, they are in a desperate search for a new right-back. We’re looking for competition for Vladimir Coufal, or maybe an upgrade.
The Telegraph admits that West Ham and Manchester United have not been able to come to an agreement, but they also say that a deal for Trippier is currently being considered.
It’s unclear at this point if Newcastle would be willing to sell and whether Trippier would be keen to transferring.
Although there was a lot of conjecture in the past that Trippier would leave Newcastle during the January transfer window, this clearly did not happen.
Of course, it’s possible that West Ham’s purported interest in Trippier is only a ruse to pressure Manchester United into lowering their demands for Wan-Bissaka.
In any event, a trade agreement that would see the right-back switch positions with Denzel Dumfries at Inter Milan may be investigated if Wan-Bissaka’s transfer to West Ham were to fall through.
David Ornstein of The Athletic has confirmed that Dumfries is willing to join Manchester United and will hold off on talking to Inter about a new contract until the transfer window has ended.
Man Utd might move Wan-Bissaka and buy a more attacking player by making a tempting trade, but that would prevent them from signing Mazraoui, who is preferred over Dumfries.