Done & Dusted – €20m Manchester United Target Signs, Medical Already Done

Manchester United target Fernando Llorente has signed as a free agent on a three-year contract for Europa League holders Sevilla, the Basque outfit have announced. As per Goal, the striker’s release clause has now been set at €20m by the La Liga club after signing the three-year deal.

Llorente, 30, was linked to the Red Devils, as well as their Premier League rivals Arsenal since the inception of the summer transfer after it emerged the striker was surplus to requirements at Juventus following the summer arrival of Paolo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic from Palermo and Atletico Madrid respectively.

The Spanish forward was not even the first-choice striker at the Turin side to start with, as he was behind compatriot Alvaro Morata and Carlos Tevez in the pecking order. Now he has sealed a return to the La Liga where he has performed wonderfully before.

He made 327 appearances for Athletic Bilbao and enjoyed nine successful years at the San Memes, scoring 111 goals in the process before making a switch to Juventus who he would go on to play over 90 times and scored 27 goals for. Llorente was part of the Spain squad that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and has 23 caps for his country. The striker will be hoping to become Sevilla’s first-choice after the club sold Carlos Bacca to AC Milan earlier this summer.

United will now look to other options as they seek to bring in a top forward before the end of the transfer window next week. Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller and Real Madrid frontman Gareth Bale are the most mentioned names. Wayne Rooney ended his 10-game goal drought last night against Club Brugge in a Champions League qualifying tie by bagging a hat-trick, but with Javier Hernandez not looking sharp enough and James Wilson still unproven at the highest level, Louis van Gaal is still on the scour for another centre-forward to complement Rooney.

Meanwhile, the Red Devils face Swansea at the Liberty stadium this coming weekend and van Gaal will be charging his boys to go all out for the three points at a ground they lost last season.