Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen are said to be considering an ambitious move for Alejandro Garnacho and one of his Manchester United teammates ahead of Erik ten Hag's debut campaign.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Ten Hag would succeed Xabi Alonso as the head coach at Leverkusen.
The 55-year-old, who was sacked by Manchester United in October last year following a poor start to the 2024/25 campaign, believes he has joined "one of the best clubs in Germany" after several months away from management.
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"I've come to Leverkusen to continue with the ambition shown in recent years," he said. "It's an attractive challenge to set up something together in this period of change and develop an ambitious team."
Ten Hag is expected to be handed a healthy transfer budget to improve his first-team squad this summer, with the departures of Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong expected to rake in well over £150 million in fees.
It will, of course, be an unenviable challenge to replace two of the best young players in Europe, but the ambitious Leverkusen are discussing a number of options internally, according to German publication Kicker.
Alejandro Garnacho, who is expected to leave Old Trafford this summer following showdown talks with Ruben Amorim, is viewed as an 'absolute top solution' and someone who is in a 'very moderate range' in terms of salary.
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That being said, the report suggests Garnacho falls into the 'not available yet' category.
On the other hand, former Ajax winger Antony is reportedly being discussed internally by the Bundesliga club as the Brazilian continues to attract interest following an impressive six-month loan spell at Real Betis.
Antony joined Ten Hag at United in the summer of 2022, when he signed from Ajax in a deal worth a reported £85 million.
He struggled to make any sort of impact, however, and managed just 12 goals and five assists in 94 games for the Premier League outfit – an output that was criticised by many across his three-seasons in Manchester.
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As mentioned above, the 25-year-old winger has enjoyed a resurgence of late after joining Real Betis in January. In fact, he scored eight goals in 24 matches across La Liga and the Europa Conference League.
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Topics: Erik Ten Hag, Bayer Leverkusen, Transfers, Manchester United
Jack Kenmare