Manchester United and Manchester City set to battle for another midfielder
Manchester United will rival Manchester City for Lyon star Tanguy Ndombele at the end of the season, reports The Daily Mirror.
Ndombele has been heavily linked with a move to City and Tottenham over the last 12 months after emerging as a real midfield powerhouse in France since the start of last season.
The 22-year-old’s performances even earned him his first senior France cap in October and now the Lyon starlet looks destined for a big money move to the Premier League.
City have made signing Fernandinho’s long-term replacement a priority at the end of the season after failing to solve that issue in each of the last two transfer windows.
Pep Guardiola’s side lost out to Fred and Jorginho to United and Chelsea, respectively, last summer, while their city rivals also beat them to Alexis Sanchez 12 months ago.
Despite not knowing who their manager will be next season, United are looking to deal City with another blow by signing Ndombele in the summer.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who is campaigning for the full-time job at Old Trafford, has settled on his first choice midfield three and does not seem to trust the likes of Fred or Andreas Pereira.
United also sold Maraoune Fellaini earlier this year and will almost certainly use the summer transfer market to sign a new midfielder.
The Lyon ace has registered four assists in 21 league appearances this season and is yet to score, but has been a reputation as a midfielder that is capable of driving forward with possession.
In fact, of players that have attempted more than 75 dribbles since the beginning of last season, only three players have a better dribble success than Ndombele (74.3%).