Manchester United are now leading Liverpool and Barcelona in the race to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez, according to Mundo Deportivo journalist Francesc Aguilar.

The Catalan based reporter claims the swap deal with Barca involving Antoine Griezmann “remains stranded” and United have “taken a decisive step” in negotiations for the Spanish international:

Mientras el Atleti y el Barça siguen encallados en las negociaciones por Saúl Ñíguez y Antoine Griezmann, su manager, el inglés Jonathan Barnett, está adelantando las negociaciones con el Manchester United que ha dado un paso decisivo por el rojiblanco, superando al Liverpool.

— Francesc Aguilar (@FApor_elmundo) July 18, 2021

Whether this is, in fact, true, we shall have to wait and see. Mundo Deportivo are notoriously unreliable but the Red Devils have been mentioned as a potential suitor in the Madrid press over the past few days, with Chelsea also expected to be involved.

Many believe that Niguez could be targeted as a replacement for Paul Pogba, but that may not be the case. Reports have indicated that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is weighing up a change in formation to have two “attack-minded” central midfielders.

If that is true, there is a possibility that Niguez, Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and Donny van de Beek could all be part of the first-team squad.