Manchester United's £70 million bid for Harry Maguire was rejected on Tuesday with Leicester City looking for closer to £100 million, but there's better ways for the Red Devils to spend their money.
So far in the transfer window Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has added Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James to his squad for next season but Manchester United definitely need to add more players in order to improve on last season.
Like last summer the Premier League side have been heavily linked with Harry Maguire and even had a £70 million bid rejected for him.
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There's many who think that Leicester's valuation of Maguire is too much. So what if United dumped their interest in the England international and looked elsewhere?
Toby Alderweireld - £25 million
United have been linked with Alderweireld for a while and he was amongst those rumoured last summer, along with Maguire, when Jose Mourinho was desperate to add a centre back a year ago.
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The Spurs defender is available this year for just £25 million because of a release clause in his contract.
At 30 the Belgian isn't a long term solution but easily has another couple of years in the legs, is an excellent defender, can play out from defence and would no doubt help Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof develop.
Some would expect that the former Atletico Madrid defender wouldn't want to drop out of the Champions League, having reached the final last season, but he is also being linked with Roma.
Bruno Fernandes - £50 million
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The Sporting midfielder has been strongly linked with United this summer, whilst Spurs and Manchester City have also been mentioned, and Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Nicolò Schira is reporting that Fernandes agent is flying to Manchester tonight to hash out a deal.
So far the Portuguese side are yet to agree a deal with the Red Devils with the selling club wanting around £50 million and United not wanting to spend more than £35 million.
The 24-year-old scored 20 goals in the league last season and put on 13 assists for his teammates before helping his country win the Nations League this summer.
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Nicolo Zaniolo - £35 million
This deal could potentially have a lot to do with any move for Alderweireld. Roma want the defender and Spurs reportedly want the forward so a swap could happen.
Zaniolo is only 20 and scored just four goals for Roma and put on two assists in Serie A but the forward, who can play on the right or through the middle, is extremely highly rated.
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He moved to Roma last summer as part of the deal that took Radja Nainggolan to Inter and it looks like the Giallorossi got the better part of the deal.
The Italy international has reportedly rejected a new contract at the Stadio Olimpico and Juventus are interested in signing him.
Whilst Zaniolo and new signing Daniel James can both play on the right the latter can also play on the left and the Italian would be part of the push towards younger players.
Wassim ben Yedder - £35 million
Romelu Lukaku has been rumoured to want to leave Old Trafford for Inter but the Italians are yet to stump up the cash. Whether the Belgian leaves or not you could make an argument that Solskjaer is short of options up front.
Sevilla forward Ben Yedder could be the perfect replacement or addition. The Frenchman has a release clause of around £35 million and according to reports in Spain has already agreed terms with the Manchester club.
The 28-year-old bagged 18 goals last season and has previous at Old Trafford, knocking United out of the Champions League in the 2017/18 season, and his movement makes him a better fit for Solskjaer's system than Lukaku.
It's likely that United will invest heavily this summer, on top of the money already spent, and those four signings significantly reduce their outlay compared to the likes of Maguire and Gareth Bale, who they've been linked with in the past.
There are also some other decent alternatives available that could fit the criteria that the manager is looking for.
In defence West Ham defender Issa Diop has been linked with the Hammers reportedly holding out for £60 million. Diop impressed in his first season in England, comes with some experience playing here and is young enough to fit into the policy.
Benfica's Ruben Dias and Fiorentina's Nikola Milenkovic could also interest United. The former has a release clause of around £60 million, though the Portuguese side wanted to up it to £78 million.
Milenkovic was watched by Mourinho last season and has been compared to Nemanja Vidic by Serbia legend Dejan Stankovic.
In midfield Bournemouth's Lewis Cook would fit into Solskjaer's plan to add young British players to the team and, despite a long injury last season, has more top tier experience than Newcastle United's Sean Longstaff and captained England Under 20s to World Cup success in 2017.
Lyon's Moussa Dembele could be an option upfront and has been linked with the Red Devils in the past. The Frenchman would cost around £30 million.
Basically there's plenty of options for United, now they just have to hope Ed Woodward reads my article and acts on it.
Actually that's a good point, if there's any money left maybed Ed can actually invest in a proper director of football- don't bet on any of it though.
Featured Image Credit: PA ImagesTopics: Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Football News, Manchester United, Transfer stories, Transfer rumours, Transfer news, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer