Vidal coming to Manchester United

Man Utd are closing in on the signing of Bayern Munich powerhouse Arturo Vidal, reports say.

The player is widely expected to quit the Allianz Arena, with Serie A giants Inter Milan previously being favourites to secure his signature.

Manchester United, however, are reportedly closing in on the 31-year-old with Transfermarketweb claiming a deal is ‘getting closer.’

Transfermarketweb insists Vidal is close to joining with his agent Fernando Felicevich playing a key role.

Felicevich helped broker the deal that saw United land Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in January.

After starting his career with Colo-Colo, Chile’s most successful club, Vidal joined Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, where he played for four seasons. He then moved to Juventus in 2011, where he won Scudetti in all four of his seasons, played in the UEFA Champions League final, and became widely recognized as one of the best midfielders in world football.

Vidal has earned over 90 caps for the Chile national team since his debut in 2007, playing in 2011 and 2015 Copa América tournaments, as well as the Copa América Centenario, the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, helping his nation to victory at the 2015 Copa América and the Copa América Centenario.

In his fourth season with Juventus, under manager Massimiliano Allegri, Vidal began to play a more advanced role; in addition to his midfield box-to-box role in a 3–5–2 or 4–3–3 formation, Vidal was deployed as an attacking midfielder, supporting the strikers in Allegri’s 4–3–1–2 formation, and occasionally as a wide midfielder in a 4–4–2 formation.

Vidal scored his first goals of the season by managing a brace in a 3–0 win over Cesena on 24 September 2014.  On 30 November, in the Derby della Mole against local rivals Torino, Vidal opened the scoring from a penalty, and later assisted Juventus’ second goal in a 2–1 win. On 14 April 2015, in the first leg of the quarter-finals in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, Vidal converted a penalty as Juventus defeated Monaco 1–0 at Juventus Stadium.

On 2 May 2015, Vidal scored the only goal of a 1–0 win at Sampdoria, confirming La Vecchia Signoraas Serie A champions for the fourth consecutive season.  On 20 May, he appeared in Juventus’ 2–1 win over Lazio in the 2015 Coppa Italia final, as Juventus captured a domestic double and their tenth Coppa Italia title.On 6 June 2015, Vidal started for Juventus in the 2015 Champions League final as La Vecchia Signora was defeated 3–1 by Barcelona at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

On 15 July 2015, Vidal was named to the ten-man shortlist for the 2015 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award; on 12 August, it was announced that he placed eighth in the 2015 UEFA Best Player in Europe Awar

On 28 July 2015, Vidal returned to the Bundesliga, joining Bayern Munich on a four-year deal for a fee of €37 million plus up to €3 million in bonuses. Vidal made his debut for Bayern four days later in the 2015 DFL-Supercup against VfL Wolfsburg, as a 74th-minute substitute for Thiago.

 The match finished in a 1–1 draw; Bayern lost in a shootout where Vidal scored. Vidal scored his first goal from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of Bayern’s first round DFB-Pokal match. On 26 November, Vidal was nominated for the 2015 UEFA Team of the Year. Vidal suffered a season-ending knee injury during training on 14 April 2018. He underwent arthroscopic surgery and is expected back for the 2018–19 Bundesliga preseason.

 

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