Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is now “prioritising” the signing of a centre-back to partner Harry Maguire, with the club making RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano their “top target”, according to ESPN.

The Red Devils are on the verge of completing the signing of Donny van de Beek from Ajax for €40m (£36m) and it now seems their next move will be to sign a new defender before the transfer window closes.

Upamecano only signed a new contract in July, with a release clause of €42m (£38m) coming into effect next summer. However, Solskjaer is reportedly keen to sign the Frenchman now rather than wait. Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have been linked with defender in the past few months and it is hoped that they can steal a march on their rivals.

The United boss is concerned with his other centre-back options. He is not convinced by Eric Bailly, while Axel Tuanzebe’s injury problems are well documented. With Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones also expected to leave before deadline day, the decision has been made to focus on signing another centre-half.