Chelsea set asking price for Man United as they ‘Line up shock bid’ to sign new defensive target this summer

Chelsea set asking price for Man United as they ‘Line up shock bid’ to sign new defensive target this summer

Premier League rivals Chelsea have set their asking price for Trevoh Chalobah as Manchester United weigh up a summer bid for the defender

The reds are keen to bolster their defensive options this summer after enduring a torrid time with centre-back injuries last season.

Erik ten Hag was without Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire for significant parts of the 2023-24 campaign, in which Manchester United slumped to their lowest-ever Premier League finish.

United’s options at centre-half have already been depleted by the departure of Varane, who has left after three years at Old Trafford.

With Manchester United’s new owners searching for defensive reinforcements, The Independent say Chalobah has been identified as a possible target.

The 24-year-old, who is also a target for Tottenham, has made 80 appearances for boyhood club Chelsea since making his Premier League debut in 2021.

As he has largely been a fringe player at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are willing to sell Chalobah to meet profit and substantiality rules but will reportedly hold out for offers in the region of £25m.

United’s new owners believe poor decision-making in the transfer market is one of the reasons the club have struggled since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe said in March that he intended to sign the next generation of superstars rather than players who are already at that level and priced accordingly, like Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham.

‘What I would rather do, I would rather find the next Mbappe, rather than spend a fortune to just try and buy success,’ he said.

‘It’s not that clever, is it? Buying Mbappe. In a way. Anyone could figure that one out. But what is much more challenging is to find the next Mbappe or the next [Jude] Bellingham or the next Roy Keane.’

On a potential move for Bellingham, Ratcliffe added: ‘He’s a great footballer [but] it’s not where our focus is.

‘The solution isn’t spending a lot of money on a couple of great players. They’ve done that, if you look at the last 10 years.

‘The first thing we need to do is get the right people in the right boxes, managing and organising the club.

‘We must make sure we get recruitment right, such a vital part of running a football club is getting recruitment right, finding new players.’