Manchester United are planning a £90 million double swoop for forward Moussa Dembélé and midfielder Sean Longstaff in January.
United are already under pressure, with Monday night’s draw with Arsenal meaning that they have now made their worst start to a league campaign for 30 years, and Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward has promised manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer substantial transfer funds to try and arrest the decline.
Top of their wish list is a new striker, with the squad painfully thin on striking options after Romelu Lukaku was allowed to leave in the summer without a replacement being signed.
Former Fulham and Celtic striker, Dembélé, currently playing for Lyon, has been watched several times by United scouts in recent months, after a first season in Ligue 1, where he scored 15 times. He has also made a strong start to this campaign with six goals so far.
Longstaff was wanted by United in the summer, despite making only a handful of appearances for Newcastle due to injury. They are prepared to go back into the market for him again, despite their approaches being rebuffed first time round, as they look to add some steel to their midfield.
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.