Man Utd and Man City ‘hold meetings’ for midfielder, Ten Hag will still ‘monitor’ summer target

Manchester United look to have dramatically turned a corner under Erik ten Hag in recent weeks.

The Red Devils have recovered from a hugely concerning start to their Premier League campaign to pick up four consecutive wins in the top flight, moving themselves up to fifith in the process.

A large part of their recent success has been brought about by players who were either signed by Ten Hag, or who have rediscovered their best form under the Dutchman.

With that in mind, the prospect of yet more recruitment will be an exciting one for many United fans.

Here are Tuesday’s United-related transfer rumours...

United eye Gavi

United, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool have all held meetings about the availability of Barcelona midfielder Gavi in recent weeks, according to 90min.

The teenager has established himself as an integral member of the Catalan giants’ squad, despite his young age, and has already been capped 10 times at senior international level.

For their part, however, Barca remain confident that the player will sign a new long-term contract, despite interest from several Premier League clubs, as well as fellow European giants PSG and Bayern Munich.

De Jong still in demand

United and Chelsea will continue to keep an eye on developments regarding Frenkie de Jong’s situation at Barcelona in the months ahead, despite failing in bids to sign him over the summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Red Devils’ pursuit of the Dutchman became one of the transfer sagas of the window, with the player eventually deciding to stay in Spain.

But while his immediate future has been settled, Romano has claimed that both United and fellow suitors Chelsea will keep on monitoring his position at Camp Nou.

Speaking to Caught Offside, the transfer guru said: “So far the situation is totally quiet.

“Frenkie wanted to stay at Barca and therefore there are no immediate updates.

“Certainly Man United and Chelsea will monitor the situation but they know that De Jong only wanted Barca with great clarity all summer.

“It will take months before we understand the next developments.”

Ajax chief addresses Antony exit

Ajax sporting director Gerry Hamstra has addressed United’s late move to sign Brazilian winger Antony, claiming that the timing was “so bad” for the Dutch side.

The Red Devils finally got their man in the last days of the transfer window, with the 22-year-old completing an £85.5 million move to Old Trafford.

But Hamstra has now spoken out about the deal, and has suggested that it was far from ideal for his club.

Speaking to De Telegraaf, he said: “Manchester United’s timing was so bad. The last few days [of the window] became even more hectic after Ajax had already gone through a major rebuild of the squad following the departure of lots of top-class players.

“It was so difficult to leave our manager with such a void. We all think we lost too many first-team players who always start. We had a summer with totally different expectations.

“We wanted to keep the group together as much as possible to be able to perform well in the Champions League and to carry on being successful.

“That’s what we talked about. Of course we knew there were a few snags.

“But no one had foreseen that our players would be bought for such huge sums of money.”