Man United ONLY want a loanee to step in for Luke Shaw
Inside Man United’s desperate left back search: Club ONLY want a loanee to step in for Luke Shaw – and have a restricted budget – with Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella most likely among top three targets
- Manchester United need cover at left-back after injuries to Shaw and Malacia
- Chelsea are open to let Marc Cucurella go on loan
- Would Mohamed Salah ‘do the dirty’ on Liverpool by leaving? And what about Man United ‘diving’?: Listen to It’s All Kicking Off , Mail Sport’s new podcast
Manchester United only want a short term loan deal to cover the injury to Luke Shaw.
Talks are accelerating over a potential move with Barcelona’s Marcos Alonso, Marc Cucurella of Chelsea and Lyon’s Nicolas Tagliafico top of their list while others such as Tottenham’s Sergio Reguilon have been offered or sounded out.
United have a restricted budget but want a full-back who can fit into Erik ten Hag’s style immediately.
Cucurella and Alonso have Premier League pedigree while Tagliafico, an Argentina international, is well known to the Dutch coach having worked with him at Ajax and has been considered by United’s scouting team previously.
Barcelona could be open to letting Alonso go on the short term as it allows them more financial room to register other new signings such as Joao Cancelo from Manchester City.
Mark Cucurella has emerged as Manchester United’s most likely option to replace Luke Shaw
The England international could be out until November with a muscular injury
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Chelsea are open to offers for Cucurella but also have other clubs such as West Ham, Dortmund and Burnley showing interest in their other left-back Ian Maatsen, who has yet to commit to a new contract.
Cucurella is available for loan and United made enquiries on Saturday but Chelsea may reluctant to let him go if Maatsen doesn’t commit to a new deal.
The 21-year-old has been offered a lengthy deal but is unsure over the terms and the validity of signing it. Burnley, Borussia Dortmund and West Ham are all keen on the Holland U21 international and could match or offer better terms too.
Mauricio Pochettino has been impressed with Maatsen and the club would prefer to let Cucurella, who has played 59 Premier League games for Brighton and Chelsea over the last two seasons, go at this stage.
One Brighton’s best players under Graham Potter, Cucurella fell well short of justifying his £60million price-tag as he followed his former manager up the A23 last season.
The Spaniard is yet to appear in the Premier League this year, with Ben Chilwell firmly ahead of him in the pecking order.
A product of Barcelona’s academy, Cucurella made his LaLiga debut on loan with Eibar in 2018, before signing for Getafe in the summer of 2019.
In two seasons with the Azulones, the 25-year-old played 74 LaLiga games before joining Brighton on a five-year deal at the start of the 2021-22 season.
Tagliafico, meanwhile, is playing regularly for Lyon so the French side would want a loan with obligation to buy at least.
Erik Ten Hag is looking to add cover at left-back in this window but has a limited budget
Nicolas Tagliafico is also on United’s radar and has played under Ten Hag at Ajax
The 30-year old, who cost Lyon just £3.5m last summer, was part of Argentina’s World Cup winning team with United’s Lisandro Martinez and has been praised in the past by Ten Hag for his character and professionalism.
United want to have a deal wrapped up before Friday.
They are close to agreeing the sale of goalkeeper Dean Henderson to Crystal Palace and will then bring in Fenerbahce’s Altay Bayindir for £4.3m.
United remain restricted by Financial Fair play over what they can bring in so need to sell the likes of Donny van de Beek and Eric Bailly before moving on midfield targets.
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