Manchester United are pushing hard to sign Manuel Akanji and have made the Borussia Dortmund central defender a contract offer, according to reports in Germany.
Akanji has entered into the last 18 months of his current contract and BVB’s repeated attempts to tie the player down with a renewal have proved unsuccessful.
The 26-year-old wants an excess of €10m-a-year (£8.3m-a-year) to extend his stay at the Westfalenstadion and Europe’s elite are beginning to circle, eyeing a possible cut-price move ahead of the summer window.
Bild claims that Dortmund are resigned to losing Akanji at the end of the campaign and the ‘problem could now solve itself’ given United are ‘serious’ about landing the player.
It’s claimed United have offered Akanji a four-year contract worth around €15m-per-season (£12.5m-per-season) as they ramp up their efforts to lure the player to Old Trafford.
A switch to Old Trafford would see Akanji reunited with Jadon Sancho, his close friend and former team-mate at Borussia Dortmund.
The highly-rated Swiss joined Dortmund from Basel for a fee of £15 million just over four years ago and has made 158 games for the Bundesliga side in that time, helping the club win the German Cup last season.
Akanji has made no secret of the fact that he has supported the Red devils since childhood, revealing back in 2018 that he hoped to play for the club at some stage.
‘I have a big dream and that is to get as far as possible in football,’ he said.
‘Since my childhood days Manchester United have been my favourite club. I’d like to play there one day.
‘But right now, that’s not an issue. ‘I am happy at Dortmund and try to be the best possible person off the pitch.’
