Man Utd battling rival Premier League clubs for €45m centre-back

Manchester United are one of multiple Premier League clubs said to be interested in Sporting CP centre-back Goncalo Inacio, according to a report in Portugal.

Inacio was handed his top-flight debut at Sporting by United's current head coach Ruben Amorim, but the 23-year-old defender has been on the club's transfer radar long before their boss' arrival.

Back in June, when Amorim had just steered the Lisbon outfit to the Portuguese league title, Manchester United and Liverpool were both said to be "monitoring" Inacio, who featured in all but two of the club's top-flight games that season.

No move materialised as United ultimately opted for Leny Yoro, however their interest in Inacio has not subsided according to A Bola. The Portuguese outlet claims that United have been eyeing the centre-back up for "a long time" and reveals that several other unnamed English clubs are also interested.

The report goes on to stress that Sporting have already made it abundantly clear that Inacio will not be available for anything less than €45m (£37.6m). That relatively modest sum would fit with United's new model of prioritising younger talents who will command lower fees and salaries before improving at Old Trafford.

This approach has been dubbed the 'Bruno model' after United's talismanic captain Bruno Fernandes, who arrived from Sporting at the start of 2020 as one of the club's few successful acquisitions. Coincidentally, Inacio is represented by Miguel Pinho, who just so happens to be Fernandes' agent.

There is set to be room for defensive recruits in the summer as Jonny Evans and an increasingly frustrated Victor Lindelof are expected to leave United.

Inacio isn't the club's only defensive target. Fenerbahce's Yusuf Akcicek has also been linked with a move to Old Trafford. However, the teenage centre-back who has been compared to Raphael Varane by Jose Mourinho is still in the early stages of his development. Inacio, by comparison, is a regular in Portugal's senior national team and has amassed more than 200 appearances for Sporting. Whether he continues to bolster that swollen tally next season remains to be seen.

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