Man Utd ‘willing’ to pay huge salary for Real Madrid star amid ‘interest’ in £51.6m defender

Manchester United are edging closer to their return to action as the World Cup rumbles on.

The Red Devils are back in cup action within the next week, with Premier League action returning after Christmas. United have endured a mixed season so far, and they find themselves needing to up their game if they want to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Erik ten Hag had a busy first summer at Old Trafford, spending a large amount of money to improve his squad.

And we could now see further additions in the winter window, especially after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure. With that in mind, we have rounded up all the latest transfer news and rumours surrounding Old Trafford.

Benzema links

United are said to be pushing for a deal to sign Real Madrid’s Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema.

The France international has been a force for Los Blancos for more than a decade, and it was thought he might retire at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Nacional via Yahoo Sport have claimed contract talks between the striker and the club are at a standstill. Within that report, it’s claimed United are willing to offer a huge salary to convince Benzema to make the switch to Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid will surely continue their attempts to lock the striker into a new deal. The 34-year-old’s current contract is up at the end of this season.

Dumfries links

United are said to be in the race to sign Inter Milan star Denzel Dumfries.

According to Radio Radio, via SportsWitness, the Red Devils are indeed in the race to sign a right-back, which shouldn’t be a surprise given Ten Hag’s evident desire to sign a player in that position. It’s claimed Inter want around £51.6million this January, and that the Serie A giants have received ‘very important offers from England’.

It’s not clear whether one of those offers is from United, but reports are not going away.