Man Utd set to beat Chelsea to £35million Monaco midfielder

Man Utd set to beat Chelsea to £35million Monaco midfielder

Man utd-Chelsea

Manchester United are reportedly ready to beat Chelsea to another of their top summer transfer targets after agreeing a £35million fee for Monaco star Tiemoue Bakayoko.

Having seemingly beaten the Blues to £75m Romelu Lukaku, despite Chelsea’s last-ditch efforts to land their former striker, it would now appear that United have stolen a march over Bakayoko too. Antonio Conte is said to be fuming over Chelsea’s inability to land Lukaku, so much so that the Stamford Bridge outfit have decided not to sell midfielder Nemanja Matic to United due to their anger over the Belgium striker’s imminent Old Trafford switch.

That stance, however, has forced United to look elsewhere for a defensive midfielder and they have turned their attentions to former target Bakayoko, according to the report in theDaily Star. The 22-year-old was thought to be close to a move to Stamford Bridge but United have leapt to the front of the queue for the France international and look set to anger their Premier League rivals once again.

Chelsea may also come off second best to United in their efforts to land Real Madrid star James Rodriguez, with Jose Mourinho once again tipped to beat Conte to the playmaker, according to a report on Sunday. There was at least some good news for Chelsea on Sunday after they sealed the deal for Roma defender Antonio Rudiger.

The Germany star was signed for a deal which could rise to £34m, penning a five-year contract with the Premier League champions.