Manchester United Plan January £29.6m Signing Of Arsenal Target

Manchester United are currently on the look out for an attacking midfielder in January and as per the Daily Mirror, the Mancunian Reds are monitoring Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu.

The report claims Louis van Gaal’s side are really keen on luring the Bayer Leverkusen’s number 10 away from the BayArena during the next transfer window, but they will have to fend off competition from Serie A giants AC Milan for the player’s signature.

Calhanoglu, 23, joined Leverkusen from Hamburg in 2014 after progressing through the Karlsruher academy. The gifted free-kick specialist is known for his powerful shots and is regarded as one of the best young players in the world.

One of the world’s most feared set-piece taker, Calhanoglu has carved a niche for himself as one of the hottest properties in Europe with his brilliant free-kick delivery and powerful shots. The Turkey international has featured prominently for Leverkusen in the early weeks of the season and he delivered an outstanding performance in his side’s recent Champions League victory over BATE Borisov, scoring two goals and creating an assist.

It is claimed Man United offered €40m to Leverkusen for the services of Calhanoglu during the summer but were knocked back by the Bundesliga outfit who were determined to hold on to their prized asset.

Calhanoglu’s price-tag should be no problem for United as the club still have enough in their warchest despite spending more than £250m on transfers since van Gaal’s emergence. The Dutchman has enough midfielders in his ranks, but most of them play in deep-lying positions. Therefore, the arrival of Calhanoglu, should United succeed in beating Milan to his signature, would be a brilliant coup for van Gaal.

The Red Devils tackle Wolfsburg tonight in their second group stage game of the Champions League this term, and a win against the Bundesliga side will put United back on track for qualification out of their group.