Manchester United are all set to hijack Atletico Madrid’s move for on-loan Atalanta star Bryan Cristante with an official bid being expected this month, according to Express Sports.

Manchester United’s deal for Alexis Sanchez took the limelight from Jose Mourinho’s interest in bringing Atalanta’s on-loan midfielder Bryan Cristante to Old Trafford. The Chilean completed his move yesterday, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan joining Arsenal in what is a high-profile swap deal.

In the midst of all these happenings, Mourinho decided to bulge into another transfer dealing and according to Spanish news outlet Don Balon (h/t Daily Star), the Portuguese is keen on making a move for the 22-year-old central midfielder. Metro Sport, back in November, had reported that United were preparing a £31m bid for the midfielder but no official announcement has been made till date.

The midfielder is currently on loan at Atalanta from Portuguese side Benfica, having signed for them back in 2014 from AC Milan. Cristante has, till date, made 24 appearances in all competitions for Atalanta and has scored 9 times, including 3 in the Europa League against Premier League side Everton.

As things stand for Atalanta right now, the Serie A club have an option of making his deal a permanent one for £10m at the end of the season but according to Don Balon (h/t Daily Star), they might look to make an early profit by activating the clause and selling him immediately. However, signing him won’t be a walk in the park given that Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid are also in the race.

Coupled with that his agent – Giuseppe Riso – has already mentioned that Cristante leaving Atalanta in January is out of the question.

“Bryan Cristante will stay in Atalanta until the end of the season. We have already dealt with the conversation with the Percassi family [Atalanta owners] now he is an international player.

“How much? It is not the time to talk about value and numbers, these are considerations that will make take time. 

“I have to evaluate the path that Bryan must do, with clubs capable of enhancing him and the right coaches. We’ll make the numbers known when the time comes.”

Targeting Cristante does make sense for Manchester United given that Marouane Fellaini’s contract expires at the end of the season. However, it remains to be seen whether the deal is struck at the end of the season or in January itself.