Varun Pai
Transfer News: Manchester United among six clubs in race to sign AS Nancy ace Warren Bondo
According to transfer news on Le10 Sport (h/t ESPN), Manchester United are amongst six clubs keen on landing AS Nancy star Warren Bondo.
The midfielder joined the youth set-up of the 2nd division French club in 2018. He has since moved up their ranks, featuring for their U-17 and U-19 side before being bumped up to the senior team last summer. In the past couple of years, he has made 26 appearances for them and scored 2 goals in the process.
However, he is already being tracked by several clubs around the continent. Rennes are hoping to seal a deal after Eduardo Camavinga left their ranks to join Real Madrid last summer.
Man United are monitoring Bondo, with Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain also interested in the player. However, the player’s stance on the topic is yet to be known.
One for the future?
Man United have always promoted young players into their first team, with the class of ’92 under Sir Alex Ferguson being the most solid testament to that claim. It takes some doing, but one deserving youngster often makes his way into the senior setup every couple of years.
Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Axel Tuanzebe and several others are prime examples of it in recent history. Bondo could be a similar prospect, and we could use a young midfielder in our ranks. While he wouldn’t really be a ‘homegrown’ talent per se, we could see him impress for our youth sides before giving him the nod for a senior call-up.
Our most recent midfield youth export into the first team was Scott McTominay, with Charlie Savage and Zidane Iqbal also recently making their debuts. Thus, a young foreign midfielder could be introduced into this mix given how Ralf Rangnick is choosing to give youngsters some time out in the sun for the first team.
More Manchester United News
- Harry Maguire lauds David de Gea for his game-winning display as Manchester United beat Norwich City
- Ralf Rangnick gives ultimatum to Paul Pogba over his contract at Manchester United
- Some fans react as Cristiano Ronaldo scores the penalty to give Manchester United the 1-0 win over Norwich City
Moreover, AS Nancy are bottom of the table in Ligue 2. If they do get relegated this season, the 18-year-old would understand the consequences of it, having to play in the third division of French football. However, there is a lot of competition for his signature.
If we are serious about him, we should make an early offer in order to get a headstart with regards to the competition. We were linked with a similar prospect in Camavinga this summer but were pipped by Real Madrid. We must learn where we go wrong when we fail to land such targets and improve on that in any potential negotiations going forward.
