Manchester United have had a second bid turned down for Barcelona forward Ansu Fati, according to the Sunday Times and Daily Record reporter Duncan Castles.
The Red Devils are said to have offered €100m (£90m) up front, plus €50m (£45m) in bonuses but it was reportedly not enough to convince his club into selling up.
Supporters on Twitter are not convinced by the reliability of the story:
Fake news
— Benard (@kojo_stero) June 14, 2020
Why go after this Ansu Fati
when we have Mason— Nkay ???? (@MooreMensah) June 14, 2020
Didn’t Barcelona deny this already
— 1Unitedforlife (@1Unitedforlife) June 14, 2020
No way
— Rubenio Junior ⚡ (@RubenioJunior) June 14, 2020
Why tf are we going for that kid?
— Eddy franklin (@eddyfranklin7) June 14, 2020
Don’t think it’s genuine
— Paul Taylor (@boneyjoe69) June 14, 2020
1) no we havent i very much doubt united will pay 100m for 17 yr old.
2) jorge mendes wants fati as his client.
— Mufc20 (@Mufc7249) June 14, 2020
Nonsense
— Woodgate ??????? (@trefolive16) June 14, 2020
No they haven't. Barca are never selling him, just like Messi. Would be a waste of time bidding
— Robin Wright (@_Robin_Wright) June 14, 2020
The question you have to ask about this report is if United really did have that sort of money in the bank, why wouldn’t they be going after Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho instead?
The England international is said to be the Manchester club’s top target so unless they have been told by Dortmund in no uncertain terms that he isn’t available this summer, making an offer for Fati makes very little sense.
There is no question that the Spaniard is a talented player, but for that sort of figure, you would be looking for someone who is closer to the finished article.