Italian journalist Ciro Venerato has made a bold claim that Manchester United have a ‘half agreement’ to sign Napoli’s Faouzi Ghoulam at the end of the season.
United boss Jose Mourinho is said to be interested in signing a new left-sided defender during the summer with Luke Shaw having fallen out-of-favour.
In an interview with AreaNapoli, Venerato has revealed that United have made strides towards signing the Algeria international, who has had a difficult season hampered by injury.
He said: “Is Ghoulam covered by Manchester United? Yes, he’s a champion, and despite the injury, he remains a man on the transfer market. United keep thinking about him.
“Between October and November, there was already a half agreement with Jorge Mendes to bring Alex Grimaldo (from Benfica) in blue (to Napoli) and Ghoulam to Manchester, but everything still needs to be concluded.”
Earlier in November, Ghoulam penned a fresh four-year extension with Napoli, but the deal includes an affordable release clause, which is said to be around €35m(£30m).
Ghoulam has had an injury-plagued season where he has had two knee injuries in succession, but he has returned to training prior to the final weeks of the campaign.
The 27-year-old is normally an attacking left-back by nature, and his main strength lies on his ability to provide pin-point crosses, a quality with which, he has built his reputation at the Stadio San Paolo.
Matteo Darmian, Daley Blind and Shaw have all been associated with probable exits from the club, and Ghoulam could turn into a shrewd summer signing for a reasonable market price.
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