Real Madrid are plotting a a £50m bid for Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot to fill their problem right-back position as uncertainty over Trent Alexander-Arnold’s intentions persists.
i understands the Spanish giants will test whether new United manager Ruben Amorim really believes the 25-year-old Dalot fits into his new system with a £50m offer in January.
United sources insist Dalot is an important part of Amorim’s squad, while the player himself is not understood to be seeking a move away from Old Trafford.
However, Madrid are willing to make a move for Dalot now, rather than wait for Alexander-Arnold to leave Liverpool when his contract expires next summer.
There is some urgency as their first choice full-back, Dani Carvajal, is out with a serious knee injury. The 32-year-old is expected to miss the majority of the season and Madrid have played several players out of position at right-back, with varying success.
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Madrid are long-term admirers of Alexander-Arnold, 26, and have been biding their time as the England defender has failed to agree a contract extension at Liverpool.
However, with Liverpool riding high in the Premier League, the club are expected to step up plans to tie down Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk – whose contracts all expire in June – to new deals.
A cut-price move for Alexander-Arnold in January is an option for Madrid, given coach Carlo Ancelotti finds himself with no first-choice right-back, but a lack of progress means Madrid are willing look at alternatives and test United’s resolve with a £50m offer for Dalot.
Madrid will face competition for the Portugal international, however, with several sources insisting they are one of a number of top European teams monitoring Dalot.
Amorim does not have much in the way of funds to bolster his squad in January, given predecessor Erik ten Hag spent £200m in the summer, but sources said United could be tempted to sell, with funds from Dalot’s sale helping the new boss’s pursuit of two players from his old club, Sporting Lisbon – prolific goalscorer Viktor Gyokeres and teenage talent Geovany Quenda.
In his first few games at United, Amorim has rotated his wing-backs, but Amad Diallo has emerged as a key component of his favoured high press on the right-hand side of United’s back five – Dalot’s preferred role.
Dalot and Amorim are understood to have formed a good relationship and Amorim has already singled him out for specific praise.
However, there are few players in the underperforming United ranks who could command a £50m fee and, given Amorim seems to have alternatives already, such an offer could prove very tempting indeed.