Manchester United have entered the race to sign Watford midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré along with the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham, quotes a report from the Daily Mirror.
Doucoure, a former France U-21 international – has been a revelation for Watford in a rather underwhelming season for the Hornets. Till date, the 25-year-old has bagged seven Premier League goals (most by a Watford player) and has created 34 goal scoring opportunities (and two assists). This has seen him getting linked with Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham earlier in the year before Liverpool joined the fray as well.
And now, Jose Mourinho has decided to join the competition given that Michael Carrick is set to hang his boots at the end of the season. The Portuguese has already confirmed that United will be spending in the market for a central midfielder over the summer; hence a bid for Abdoulaye Doucouré could well and truly be expected. The midfield woes aren’t limited to Carrick’s departure for the Red Devils as Marouane Fellaini is expected to depart as well.
The Belgium international sees his current Manchester United contract running until the end of the season and while Mourinho wants him to stay, he seems coy on making a move away from the club.
As things stand for United, the hierarchy have already offered him a new deal on multiple occasions, but the midfielder has rejected all of them. When quipped about his future last week, Mourinho seemed uncertain and admitted that he does not really know whether Fellaini will stay or not.
“Is he going to stay or leave? I don’t know,” he said.
“I want him to stay, the club want him to stay. The process, the negotiations, the numbers, the distances between the offer and what he wants, I really don’t know.”
Furthermore, the Daily Mirror understands that United chiefs were in stands to watch Doucouré in action last weekend when Watford defeated West Brom 1-0. But then again, signing him won’t be easy and won’t come cheap as Watford are well and truly expected to demand something staggering given the interest the player has gathered.
Meanwhile, if United somehow fail to land Doucoure, they have piled up Napoli midfielder Jorginho as a potential target.
According to the Daily Mail, Jorginho’s current contract runs until 2020 and it would take United as much as £60million to acquire his services.
