Man United Given Hope in Pursuit of Defensive Midfielder as Anderlecht Drop Price for Star

Manchester United have been given renewed hope over highly-rated Anderlecht midfielder, Leander Dendoncker, after the club publicly named the price it would take to sign him.

The 22-year-old starlet enjoyed a stellar campaign in Belgium's top-flight and caught Jose Mourinho's attention when he scored against the Red Devils in one of their Europa League clashes.

Reports had previously indicated that Anderlecht wanted as much as €38m for the tenacious midfielder, but the club's director of football Herman van Holsbeeck has now said they would have to consider an offer of €25m.

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As reported via Sport Witness, he said: “We want to cherish him, but if a club is willing to pay between [€]25 and 35 million, we have a problem.

“Against Manchester United, he has shown twice that he has the potential to play at a top European club. We are lucky that the Champions League will not start until September, otherwise, we’d have certainly lost him. 

"We would like to see Leander here another year, to work together for a transfer next summer. Just as we did with [Youri] Tielemans.”

United are known to be in the market for a central midfielder having been heavily linked with Premier League duo Nemanja Matic and Eric Dier.

While either of those two would cost upwards of £45m, the proposed fee for Dendoncker could make his signature even more tempting, as Mourinho seeks a long-term replacement for Michael Carrick and a midfield lynchpin to line up alongside Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba.