Manchester United are reportedly leading the race to sign Marcus Thuram in a cut-price deal from Borussia Monchengladbach in the January transfer window.
The Red Devils are desperate to sign a striker this month following the acrimonious departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in November. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has since made a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia side Al-Nassr, where he is expected to earn around £173million per year - the most valuable contract in world football.
Erik ten Hag's side have moved on from the Ronaldo saga and are targeting a move for France star Thuram after he impressed at the World Cup. Anthony Martial is the Red Devils' only out-and-out senior striker, although Marcus Rashford can also play through the middle if required.
According to German outlet BILD, Thuram is ready to join United in January as Ten Hag tries to bolster his forward line ahead of what will be a hectic second half of the season. The 25-year-old's deal expires at the end of the season and Monchengladbach are weighing up whether to cash in on the forward rather than losing him for free in the summer.
It has been reported that United could snap him up in a deal worth around £10.6m due to his fragile contract situation, with the attacker supposedly not willing to sign a new deal. Aston Villa and Newcastle are also amongst the interested parties but the player would prefer a move to either Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain or the Red Devils - Thuram's four 'dream' destinations.
Thuram is also set to change agents as he enters the final six months of his contract in attempt to move to one of those four teams. But United are supposedly the likeliest of the quartet to seal a move for Thuram, given their need to sign a forward.
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The Italy-born striker has scored 10 times and grabbed three assists in 15 Bundesliga appearances this season and took that form into the World Cup with France. Although he started just one game in Qatar, Thuram made a huge difference from the bench and helped turn the tide in the final against Argentina.
France were losing 2-0 until Didier Deschamps made a bold decision to make two changes in the 40th minute, with Randal Kolo Muani and Thuram coming on for Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele. It was a move that paid dividends as Les Bleus clawed themselves back into the game and took Argentina to penalties, with Thuram providing the assist for Kylian Mbappe's second goal.
After his impressive showing at the World Cup, Thuram could be set for a move to United and Ten Hag's men have been given the green light from the player to open talks with Monchengladbach. The United boss claimed last week that they are looking for "good" players and not just numbers as he looks to add to his ranks.
Ten Hag said: "We need good players, not just the numbers. We need quality players to cover and also we need competition and we need to know also that we can make different choices. So, we are looking for the right player for our squad, but it has to match our sporting criteria, definitely, but also some financial criteria."
