Manchester United are closing in on signing Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui after agreeing a fee of between £15m and £20m for the right-back, with a potential stumbling block the need to sell Aaron Wan-Bissaka to finance the transfer.
While the Moroccan had been set to join West Ham, that deal fell through and the east London club is now intent on recruiting Wan-Bissaka though a price suitable to United still needs to be negotiated. West Ham had previously agreed a £12.6m plus £2.3m price with the German club for Mazraoui.
Erik ten Hag coached the 26-year-old at Ajax from 2018 up until his departure for Old Trafford four years later and he believes Mazraoui can aid Antony’s form. Mazraoui supported the Brazilian on the Dutch club’s right flank during their title-winning seasons of 2020-21 and 2021-2022 and they impressed as a pairing.
For Mazraoui’s transfer to occur, Wan-Bissaka, who has a year left on his contract, would have to depart first. The defender, signed from Crystal Palace for £45m in June 2019, would draw a fee of around £15m.
United also have concerns at left-back. Ten Hag’s first-choice, Luke Shaw, who is not on the US tour due to his European Championship participation, has a track record of being serially injured. Tyrell Malacia, his deputy, missed all of last season with a knee injury and was left out of the tour squad to continue his rehabilitation at the club’s Carrington training complex. This may cause United to move in the market for a left-back though, as with the Mazraoui deal, funds would have to be generated first by sales.
On Sunday Ten Hag was waiting to discover the severity of the injuries suffered by Rasmus Højlund and Leny Yoro in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Arsenal at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
