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Man Utd transfer news: Man City enter race for Real Madrid ace Mateo Kovacic
MANCHESTER UNITED will face competition from rivals Manchester City in the race for Mateo Kovacic, according to reports.
The Mirror suggest that Kovacic is being viewed as an alternative to Napoli’s Jorginho - with a deal for the Italian still yet to go through despite City having been strongly linked with the midfielder for several months.
And the report even says that City have enquired about Real Madrid star Kovacic with Chelsea, particularly because of incoming manager Maurizio Sarri, thought to be considering hijacking a deal for Jorginho.
Kovacic would be of interest to a number of top European clubs if he were to leave the Spanish capital this summer, including United if reports are to be believed.
United were linked with the Croatian by the Daily Mail last month with the 24-year-old having publicly admitted that he believes he needs to move on from Madrid for more game-time.
Kovacic has been at the Bernabeu since 2015 when he joined from Inter Milan but has struggled for consistent starting minutes, starting just 10 La Liga games and only 17 matches across all competitions last term.
And while Real are reluctant to sell Kovacic given his quality and versatility, the player’s desire to play more regularly could force an exit - with a formal request for an exit potentially necessary given his contract said to include a €500million (£443m) release clause.
Discussing his future at the World Cup last month, Kovacic said to Marca: “I know that it's difficult to be a starter at Real Madrid, especially when I arrived at a really young age.
“I understand the situation, but because of that I believe the best thing for me would be to go to another club where I'd have the opportunity to play regularly as a starter.
“When I don't have clarity, I'm not happy. I've really enjoyed these three years at Madrid, with incredible teammates, winning trophies.
“However, I haven't been entirely happy because my contribution to all that wasn't to the maximum and it's something I want to change.”
Tottenham are also thought to have watched Kovacic, with Serie A clubs Juventus and Inter among the others credited with interest in the midfielder.
Kovacic has played in four of Croatia’s five World Cup games in Russia but has started just once, with Zlatko Dalic’s side facing England in the semi-finals on Wednesday (7pm).