Manchester United battle Chelsea to sign highly-rated midfielder

Manchester United look set to battle the likes of Chelsea and Bayern Munich for the signature of the highly-rated defensive midfielder.

Manchester United would have been left disappointed having failed to sign a number of their transfer targets in the previous transfer window. And it looks like they have a tough battle on their hands in the future as well with both Chelsea and Bayern Munich appear to be interested in Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria.

The Swiss international has impressed in his performances in the Bundesliga and managed to catch the eye of some of the biggest clubs in Europe as a result. The 23-year-old joined the German club from BSC Young Boys in 2017 and has since then made 96 appearances for them, scoring 8 goals and providing 6 assists.

And there is no doubt that the talented defensive midfielder would be a great addition to this Manchester United side. But the stiff competition for his services could make it hard for the Red Devils to complete any move.

As reported by the highly reliable Christian Falk of the Bild and as transcribed by the Express:

"“We know these clubs have shortlists and Zakaria is on the shortlist of Chelsea because he is a really good player.“But he is also on the shortlist of United and the shortlist of City.“He’s really expensive for a player that hasn’t shown in a big competition, I know that Gladbach knows there are interests from big clubs and also German big clubs.“I think it’s not his year to make a transfer and Gladbach don’t want to sell him but if a club pays €50million or €60m of course there will be negotiations. I think we will have to talk about Zakaria next year.”"

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The atmosphere around Old Trafford must be great at the moment after their 2-1 win away against Paris Saint-Germain. Goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford were enough to complete the upset.

One cannot forget that the Red Devils still have not had the start to the season that they would have wanted. Defeats against Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League have left them chasing the pack.

Hopefully, the can use Tuesday’s night result as a launching pad though and string together a series of wins to climb up the table and progress in Europe as well. Otherwise, this is just end up being a rare bright spot in another disappointing season for the club.