Man United to use Kagawa as bait in bid for Atletico star
Published:
Manchester United are set to offer Shinjki Kagaw to La Liga champions Atletico Madrid in order to see Arda Turan move in the opposite direction.
With United being frustrated in their bid to prize Arturo Vidal from Juventus this rumour looks as though the creator merely used as many letters from Vidal’s name as possible to conjure up another target.
However, if the Daily Mirror is to be believed Atletico made the first move by enquiring about the availability of United’s Japan midfield maestro.
The former Dortmund ace is said to be on a list of players new United manager Louis van Gaal is happy to see leave Old Trafford and as such a proposal has been made that the Red Devils part with Kagawa and £16m in exchange for Atleti’s Turkish star.
United remain 5/1 third favourites to land the Premier League title after beating domestic rivals Liverpool to the International Champions Cup courtesy of a 3-1 win in Miami.
And, while their pre-season preparation has yielded five wins from five games, Van Gaal is willing to part with Kagawa, Nani, Marouane Fellaini, Wilfried Zaha, Anderson and Tom Cleverley.
Ateltico are unlikely to be willing to part with Turan, who featured 46 times in their run to the La Liga title and Champions League final, after losing Diego Costa, David Villa, Adrian Lopez and Diego Ribas from last year’s team.
However, Van Gaal will be hoping that the lure of Kagawa will soften Madrid manager Diego Simeone’s stance and finally see United land the creative midfield spark they crave.
United get their season underway with the visit of Swansea and despite being without injured striker Robin van Persie go into the tie as clear favourites.
The hosts can be backed at 1/3 for the victory with Swansea priced at 9/1 and the draw available at 15/4.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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