“Practically done” – Manchester United working on finalising 26-year-old’s transfer

Manchester United only needed Casemiro’s overhead kick to win all three points against Bournemouth, as their resilient backline kept another clean sheet to see out the game.

The defensive performance from the Red Devils against Sevilla across two legs following Lisandro Martinez’s season-ending injury not only ended Erik ten Hag’s dream of winning a cup treble but also raised doubts over the side’s pursuit of Champions League football.

In the absence of Martinez and Raphael Varane, the Dutchman turned to Victor Lindelof to guard David de Gea’s net. The Swede has started nine successive games since the Argentina international’s injury and has helped United keep five clean sheets.

Manchester United working on signing a new centre-back

Despite his impressive showings, reports in Italy suggest the Premier League giants remain keen to reinforce their options at the back.

According to Il Mattino (via SportWitness), United are close to finalising a deal for Kim Min-jae.

It’s understood that the Napoli star has a deal worth €9m per season on the table from the Old Trafford outfit, and a ‘villa’ in Manchester has already been made available ahead of a potential summer move. The deal with United is ‘practically done’ and doesn’t depend on Napoli’s will.

The defender, who joined Napoli a year ago from Fenerbahçe for less than €20m, has a release clause worth €65m in his contract and United are ‘preparing to pay’ it in the summer. This is the highest figure reported so far.

As such, despite the Serie A champions’ reluctance to lose the centre-back, who spearheaded their defence to bring the first league title to Naples in over 30 years, his departure would present a huge profit for the club.