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Manchester United have been given permission by Southampton to begin talks with their midfielder Mario Lemina.
That comes after the South Coast club decided to leave him out of the squad named for their pre-season training camp in Austria, with indications that he is free to leave the club if the right offer is received for him.
Arsenal, who have been linked with the player in the past are also said to be interested, but it is United who are currently in pole position to sign him.
The central midfielder, who is valued at £18 million, joined Southampton from Juventus in August 2017, and has made 43 Premier League appearances for The Saints, although he missed four months of last season with an abdominal injury.
Lemina, who still has three years left on his contract at St. Mary’s wants to leave the club, and United have identified him as the type of box-to-box midfielder that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to add some dynamism to his team.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.