LONDON. — Manchester United are prepared to break their transfer record with a third and final offer of £35 million for Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas.
The Spain midfielder is David Moyes’s prime target as United’s new boss looks to add a creative spark ahead of the start of the season. The Barclays Premier League champions have been negotiating with Barcelona for several weeks, with opening bids of £26m and £30m rejected by the Catalan side.

Now, United look set to return with a bid approaching £35m plus add-ons that would smash the £30.75m Sir Alex Ferguson paid to land Dimitar Berbatov in 2008.

In public at least, Barca remain adamant Fabregas will not be sold, with new coach Gerardo Martino saying: ‘I’m not going to involve myself in the club accounts, but considering the club has already rejected two offers, I would guess it will reject a third.’

Sportsmail understands Fabregas has told friends he would be open to the possibility of joining United and is keen to link up once more with former Arsenal teammate Robin van Persie.

Although Barcelona’s preference is to keep hold of Fabregas, it is understood that they could be swayed by the huge sum United are prepared to offer, although the player may be required to hand in a transfer request to force through the move.

Should the move fail to materialise, United will look to Everton’s Marouane Fellaini and Real Madrid’s Luka Modric as alternatives.
Meanwhile, Rio Ferdinand believes that Manchester United have a future star in Jesse Lingard.

The 20-year-old winger impressed on United’s pre-season tour to Australia and the Far East and finished as top scorer with four goals. Ferdinand thinks that a first-team debut isn’t far away for Lingard if he continues to progress.

Speaking to The Sun, Ferdinand said: “He is a great little player. On the previous tour, he was one of our best players but it didn’t work out for him last season.

“But he couldn’t have done any more to put himself in the shop window in terms of the manager.”
Ferdinand is also expecting Wilfried Zaha to make an impact during his first season with the club.

The former Crystal Palace man joined up with the squad after a disappointing campaign with England’s Under-21s in Israel.
Ferdinand added: “He’s fitted in straight away.” — AFP.

 

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