Man United open talks to sign ‘incredible’ £70m Benfica star as Bayern Munich shows sudden interest and ready to compete with Man utd for the player

Man United open talks to sign ‘incredible’ £70m Benfica star as Bayern Munich shows sudden interest and ready to compete with Man utd for the player

Bayern Munich will rival Manchester United to sign Benfica centre-back Antonio Silva in the summer transfer window, according to reports.

The Red Devils have already opened talks to bring Silva to Old Trafford and recently sent scouts to watch him in action for Benfica against Portimonense.

United wish to overhaul their squad after Sir Jim Ratcliffe took over football operations and will prioritise a new central defender with some stars set to leave.

Silva could be set to follow in the footsteps of Victor Lindelof – who swapped Benfica for United in 2017 – and link up with fellow Portuguese stars Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.

German champions Bayern Munich will be hoping to convince Silva to snub United, though, and bring him to the Allianz Arena instead.

That’s according to new reports, with the Bundesliga giants ‘impressed’ with Silva’s development having had him on their wishlist for ‘quite some time’.

Even though Silva has a release clause of around €100m, it is thought that Benfica would be open to a sale for around €70-80m.

Silva has spent his entire senior career at Benfica having progressed through their youth academy and has made 81 appearances to date.

He helped Benfica win the Portuguese top-flight title last season and was named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year.

Silva, who is under contract with Benfica until 2027, has been capped seven times by Portugal and featured at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar