Manchester United to make formal bid for Mason Mount | Long-standing interest in Moises Caicedo

Delighted to say that Darmesh Sheff has joined me and we're going to start on what is going to be a busy summer across the city of Manchester for United, Darmesh, no doubt. Let's start with Mason Mount. We reported last week that United are interested in him. Sky Sports caught up with him at the Barcelona Grand Prix. Couldn't get anything out of him. I'm hoping we'll get more out of you here. How are talks going? Well, they're continuing between Manchester United and Chelsea over the potential signing of the midfielder Mason Mount. We're told United are expected now to go in with a formal bid, I'm told, soon. Defined soon. It could be in the coming days, in the coming weeks. It's thought a gap in valuation, though, still exists between what Chelsea want from Manchester United with regard to Mason Mount and what Manchester United are prepared to pay. Look, United have got a price in mind. For a player, you've got to remember who's about to enter the final year of his contract and no signs of him extending that contract at Stamford Bridge. If he wants to give any kind of encouragement that he wanted to go to Manchester United, which we believe some of the noises are beginning to appear with that being the case, then I wonder whether that would impact on the price as well with what Chelsea would want from him. But if, say, Mason Mount is saying, I want to go to Manchester United, I'm into the final year of my contract, that could work in Manchester United's favour. But look, United are not stupid. They know that these deals are very, very difficult to do, given the amount of money that's involved. So they will be looking at other targets if the Mason Mount one can't be done. OK, yeah. And speaking of those other targets, who are they? Look, the Moises Caicedo one never goes away. The Brighton midfielder, there's been a long-standing interest in him from Manchester United. It's thought Manchester United have asked to be kept informed of any developments regarding Caicedo. They also like the West Ham United captain and midfielder, Declan Rice. But this all goes back to how much Manchester United are going to be able to spend this summer. That's going to be dictated to, you'll have to think, one, on the departures from the club and how much money they can recoup from any players that they sell, and also the ongoing takeover, because that's probably going to dictate more than anything else how much money Eric Ten Hag is going to have come the summer. So a little bit of limbo with regard to Manchester United and their transfer dealings, but they are obviously wanting to be ambitious. They want to spend money. They want to bring in good players, and you'd think they'd be dealing in a kind of a different market this summer compared to last summer, because they've got Champions League football at Old Trafford next season. You mentioned midfielders there they're looking at. What about other positions? Striker, for example? Striker, we've been saying all along, is the number one priority for Manchester United. They effectively played without a number nine for the majority of the season. Marcus Rashford, we know, scored 30 goals in all competitions, but predominantly he was coming in off the left, and you'd have to say that would be his preferred position. They brought Wout Weghorst in almost as a stopgap in January on a six-month loan deal. The talk of Harry Kane won't go away, but it's looking increasingly unlikely that Manchester United will be able to do a deal for Harry Kane. Not because of the money involved, though that would be a factor, but also Tottenham are reluctant to sell full stop, let alone to a Premier League rival. Kane has only got a year left on his contract, of course, but United have made initial contacts with other strikers as well. They made initial contacts, we're told, to Atalanta over the availability of their striker, Rasmus Hoyland, and they're still keeping an eye on the Eintracht Frankfurt striker, Randall Colomuani, among other players as well. So Eric ten Haag isn't to really make his mark on this Manchester United squad this summer. You've talked about players who could be coming in, what about players you might be willing to let go? This is where it gets very, very interesting. Just staying with potential incomings, because it could be related to outgoings as well. We know that another priority position is in defence. Now, we also know that the representatives of Napoli's Kim Min-jae know of Manchester United's interest. We are also told that there's a release clause believed to be around £42m for Min-jae, which kicks in, interestingly, on July 1st and lasts for 15 days. That's when the release clause is live. So United have made clear that they are interested in Kim Min-jae. Another player that they're interested in is Axel Di Sassi from Monaco. We're told that he would want to go to Manchester United. But any potential incoming in the defensive department, we think, is going to be dependent on any players that leave. Now, the one player that we seem to be talking about immediately is the captain, Harry Maguire. He, among a few others, Anthony Martial, Scott McTominay, Fred, there's a lot of question marks about their future just now. But in a way, they hold the cards because they're under contract at Manchester United. Effectively, they'll make the decision if they want to move on or not. But you would think that game time and potential game time that they'll get next season could be a huge factor on whether they would want to stay at United or not. The goalkeeping situation remains unresolved as well. David De Gea into the final year of his contract. And you just think, will he stay if he's not number one? There is a contract, we think, that is close to being agreed, but it hasn't been signed off. And while it hasn't been signed off, United will do due diligence on other goalkeepers. Diogo Costa from Porto is one that they're looking at. David Raya from Brentford is another one that they're looking at. Another name that was mentioned to me today was the Inter Milan goalkeeper, Andre Onana. He's actually played under Eric Ten Haag before at Ajax. So, it just seems that there's so much in the air at the moment with regard to United and potential incomings and outgoings. But Eric Ten Haag has made it clear that he wants healthy competition in all positions at the football club. And if that means David De Gea stays, he can't guarantee that David De Gea would be number one next season. Yeah, and if they are interested in David Raya and do try and make a move for him, they could have some competition, couldn't they? Yeah, look, Tottenham, we know, are interested in David Raya and we're told that they're expected to approach Brentford with regard of fee. He's only got one year left on his contract, not expected to sign another deal at Brentford. We do know as well that Tottenham's current number one and captain, Hugo Lloris, who's got a year left on his contract, has effectively said that he wants to leave for a new challenge. With regard to Raya, the Brentford boss, Thomas Frank, has been very public in saying, look, if you look at the other goalkeepers and how much they've gone for, we believe David Raya is worth around £40 million. If Tottenham can agree a deal somehow with Brentford, we're told that personal terms are not expected to be a problem. Damas, chef, thank you very much indeed for now. When Damas is back in the studio talking transfers, you know it is revving up and you know the transfer show is back tonight, 7pm. Join us for a roundup of all the news from 7pm here on Sky Sports News.