Man Utd have already made two signings this summer with another two expected to follow. (Image: Getty)
Manchester United could secure the services of Sergi Roberto for free, seven years after the Red Devils launched an unsuccessful bid for the Barcelona academy graduate.
Erik ten Hag’s side were beaten by rivals Manchester City during their first competitive fixture of the season on Saturday, but optimism remains high heading into the 2024/25 campaign.
That’s partly down to INEOS’ proactiveness in the transfer market, with United having already splashed close to £100million on fresh talent this summer.
And it looks as if Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee will be joined at Old Trafford by Bayern Munich duo Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, after United agreed to a deal for the pair with the German giants.
But, should they want, United could snatch themselves an old transfer target for absolutely nothing.
That’s because, as per Fabrizio Romano, the now 32-year-old is preparing to leave Barcelona as a free agent, a whopping 18 years after joining as a teenager.
While never really establishing himself as a mainstay in La Blaugrana’s first team, Roberto has notched close to 400 senior appearances, while winning two Champions League titles during his time with the club.
Things could’ve worked out much differently for the midfielder though, had a proposed transfer to United gone through seven years ago.
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Roberto was subject to a bid from the Manchester-based outfit, which was reported to be in the region of £36million per Mundo Deportivo.
Having already secured the signatures of Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic, the then-United boss Jose Mourinho wanted to sign Roberto as well.
Suffice to say the deal didn’t go through, with Mourinho waiting until that season’s January transfer window before adding Alexis Sanchez to his ranks.
Fast forward to the present day and it promises to be another busy summer transfer window for the 20-time English champions.
United paid Crystal Palace £50m for Wan-Bissaka in 2019, but look set to recoup only a fraction of their initial investment, with the now 26-year-old commanding a fee of £15m.
Ten Hag will be keen to see as many deals as possible get across the line before United run out for their season opener at Old Trafford against Fulham on Friday night.