Manchester United have shifted their focus on their Ajax and Dutch teenage defender De Ligt and are confident they can clinch Newcastle’s midfielder Sean Longstaff who has had a stellar season with the side on a £25million deal to this summer.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer intends to build on the £15m capture of Daniel James from Swansea by securing the services of Longstaff, as part of his Old Trafford overhaul where he is targetting young players that will develop to stars with time.
Although Toon midfielder Longstaff pledged his future to Newcastle in an interview earlier this month, United are confident they can land the 21-year-old by the beginning of the season where United is going to open their fixture against Chelsea at home.
Apparently, the uncertainty at Newcastle, with a proposed takeover imminent and the future of boss Rafa Benitez up in the air, is not thought to be an obstacle to United’s pursuit of Longstaff.
The 21-year-old England player made 11 successive starts for Rafa Benitez’s side last season before he damaged knee ligaments against West Ham in early March which ended his season.
Despite that setback, Solskjaer had seen enough of Longstaff to convince him the 21-year-old fitted the profile of the kind of player he wants at United.
United are working on moving away from a policy of signing established stars for exorbitant fees, with the likes of Lukaku, Pogba, Sanchez and the likes in favour of young, primarily home-grown talents whom they can develop.
Manchester United have already made their first signing, Wales international and former Swansea City forward, James, 21, was the first of those signings, penning a five-year deal worth £70,000-a-week, and Longstaff could soon join him at United.
United remain in the hunt for a central defender, with Ajax’s Matthijs De Ligt and Leicester’s Harry Maguire standing out as their principal targets although the former has been linked to a possible move to French side PSG where his agent, Mino Raiola was seen and many believe he was selling his client to the side.
United are also hopeful of signing Crystal Palace right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, despite having rejected an opening bid of £40m for the England Under-21 star but he has since made it known to Palace that he wants to move.