Man Utd 'Ready to Offer' £26m for Napoli Left-Back as Part of Summer Defensive Rebuild
Manchester United are reportedly readying a summer offer for Napoli left-back Faouzi Ghoulam as part of a widely rumoured defensive rebuild that could see a number of Old Trafford casualties, including Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian and Luke Shaw.
The 27-year-old Algerian international, who is represented by Jorge Mendes' Gestifute agency, has been sidelined with a fractured with knee trouble injury since October, but is said to be close to resuming training.
According to RMC, United have been tracking Ghoulam for a number of years already and are finally ready to 'go on the offensive' to get their man.
The French outlet cites a 'source close to the player' to claim that United have made contact with Ghoulam's entourage. That will apparently be followed by an opening bid of around £26m.
RMC also states that United are not the only English club interested, but stops short of naming any of the other alleged suitors.
Stu Forster/GettyImages
French-born Ghoulam, who played twice against Manchester City in the Champions League group stage earlier this season, has been with Napoli since 2014 when he joined from Saint-Etienne.
He quickly established himself as a regular and helped the team to Coppa Italia success in his first half season at Stadio San Paolo, only Napoli's second major trophy since 1990.
As far as other defensive targets are concerned, United remain linked with Tottenham centre-back Toby Alderweireld and long-term Jose Mourinho favourite Raphael Varane.
