Reports suggest Manchester United are making progress on the potential signing of AS Monaco star Axel Disasi.
The Reds have improved significantly under Erik ten Hag this season and the Dutchman will be looking to make his team better when the transfer window opens.
There is belief growing that, with some more astute signings, United could challenge for the Premier League title next season.
United have been linked with a number of players already. An array of forwards as Ten Hag demands an elite-level goalscorer, midfielders and defenders.
One name that has done the rounds is Monaco defender Axel Disasi, as per CaughtOffside.
The 25-year-old was given his France debut in Qatar and will likely feature a lot more in the coming years, with Raphael Varane out of the national set-up.
French football expert Jonathan Johnson suggested that Disasi could be a solid squad option for Ten Hag.
“Monaco defender Axel Disasi is an interesting player who’s starting to attract links with the likes of Manchester United ahead of the summer,” Johnson said.
“He’s in that kind of ‘finishing school’ phase that Aurelien Tchouameni was in when he was there, and that someone like Wesley Fofana is in with Chelsea right now. He’s now made the breakthrough at international level and that’s helped get him onto the radar of a number of big clubs. For someone like United, I think he would add competition to their squad, but I do have questions about whether or not he’d be the best fit for Erik ten Hag’s side and where they are now.
“I think Disasi will definitely be coveted by Premier League clubs in the future, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it ended up being someone a level below Manchester United, one of those clubs aspiring to get it into the Champions League reckoning.”
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail suggest Monaco are prepared to sell the defender for £44m this summer.
Football journalist Dean Jones reckons United will soon have the framework in place to sign Disasi.
“He’s a different sort of player, but Axel Disasi could be viewed as Patrice Evra mark two if he is to come from the same Monaco pathway,” Jones told GiveMeSport.
“His ceiling is high. He has as a similar age to Evra when he first arrived at the club and I’m told the initial conversations over the past couple of months have been pretty positive around this one.”
Ten Hag will need to sign a centre-back or two if United part ways with Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Axel Tuanzebe. All three players look to be on their way out of Old Trafford.
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