Manuel Akanji has made it clear he would be keen on a move to his "favourite club" Manchester United.
The Borussia Dortmund defender has been linked with a switch to Old Trafford after he is believed to have turned down the Bundesliga giant’s latest contract offer worth around £8million per season.
The 26-year-old will enter the final year of his deal in the summer and Marco Rose's men could have a decision to make if he doesn't pen an extension.
United are looking to capitalise on the situation as SPORT1 in Germany claims Ralf Rangnick's men are "very keen" to bring the Swiss international to Old Trafford.
And it seems they won't have any issues convincing Akanji who has previously said it would be his "big dream" to play for United one day.
"I have a big dream, to get as far as possible in football," Akanji told NZZ, via Team Talk, when he initially signed for Dortmund in 2018.
"Since my childhood days, Manchester United have been my favourite club. I'd like to play there one day.
"But right now, that's not an issue. I am happy at Dortmund and try to be the best possible person off the pitch."
Akanji could be pushed down the pecking order at the Bundesliga giants next season.
Dortmund have secured the services of Bayern Munich defender Niklas Sule who has signed a pre-contract at Signal Iduna Park.
United are in desperate need of defensive reinforcements, meanwhile, as their struggles have continued after the winter break.
The Red Devils were knocked out of the FA Cup on penalties by Middlesbrough before being held to a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor on Tuesday night against Burnley.
Harry Maguire came under fire once again for his poor performance as Rio Ferdinand singled him out for Jay Rodriguez's equaliser.
Ferdinand said on BT Sport: "There's McTominay, he's your protection, all he's got to do, Maguire, is keep pushing him away, he hasn't got to over-commit, as soon as he over-commits, it's a great piece of skill, this pass is sublime, if Kevin de Bruyne does that [Weghorst pass] we’ll all be going crazy.
"This touch across Maguire takes him completely out of it. I don't think Maguire is quick enough to have got there to affect that situation once it got beyond him.
"It's about stopping it at the source, once he had the big number nine, keep him facing [away from] the goal, he's got the security of McTominay in front of him, he can deal with him a little bit, these are small mistakes leading to big moments."
Ferdinand went on to add: "I think he’ll be disappointed. First half, he looked assured, him and Raphael Varane very assured as a partnership. They were the dominating team but second half the team didn’t come out at the races.
"You can make it easy by doing the basics right, they didn’t do that, they gave the ball away, the intensity wasn’t there and they got overran five-10 minutes into the second half. The goal was poor on Harry’s part.
"Behind closed doors, he will take responsibility for that, he doesn’t need to come out here and go crazy and he’ll iron it out. The challenge he made just over the halfway line, he’s lucky to stay on the pitch because I feel the striker is running in on goal, it’s a performance he’ll like to erase and get into the next game as quick as possible. But these things happen."
Maguire responded to the disappointing draw at Turf Moor, as he said: "It was a disappointing goal on our behalf to concede. We came out in the second half a bit sloppy. We had long enough in the game to come back from that and try and find the winner.
"We demand on ourselves to win the football match so it is disappointing."
