Manchester United are thought to be preparing swap deals involving their squad players in order to pursue deals to sign Mason Mount and Declan Rice this summer.
On Friday, it was reported that United are preparing a deal to offer club captain Harry Maguire to Chelsea in order to seal a deal to sign Mason Mount. United are thought to value Mount at £55million, though Chelsea are thought to want up to £75million for the midfielder.
Adding Maguire to any prospective deal would help lower the cost for Mount, whose contract expires next summer, though it is unclear whether Chelsea would be open to signing the defender in part-exchange.
United are also thought to hold an interest in Declan Rice, with Arsenal reported to be leading the way for his signature among other interest from clubs including Chelsea and Bayern Munich. However, they could offer Scott McTominay as a makeweight in a deal, a move which has already been suggested. West Ham are also believed to hold an interest in Maguire.
Using their squad players in part-exchange deals would free up transfer funds for Erik ten Hag to be able to secure other targets, with a goalkeeper, defender and striker all believed to be on their summer shortlist. Transfer funds are yet to be fully determined, with the club's ongoing takeover process yet to be finalised.
Maguire could also hold a key in a deal to sign Harry Kane, with Spurs previously linked with a move. Should Chelsea decline the offer to use Maguire as a makeweight in their deal to sign Mount, then he could be offered to Daniel Levy to sweeten a deal.
A move to sign Kane is thought to be United's priority this summer, with a striker top of Ten Hag's list, a fact which the United boss has made no secret of. When asked if a new No.9 will be his summer priority last month, he responded: “Yeah, I think everyone knows.
“It’s not a secret that over the whole season we had a shortage of No.9s," he continued. “First, we had the dropout of Ronaldo, then Antony Martial was often not available, Jadon Sancho was often not available, then you have a shortage of frontline players.
“With less players we have to cover many games, so definitely we need in the frontline players who strengthen the squad. You can approach that from many ways. The typical No.9, Rashford can also play very good as a No. 9 and Anthony Martial is a great No.9.
“We have players who can play in that role but, definitely, we need some offensive players who are really impact players, quality players, who improve the frontline.”
