Manchester United paid way over the odds last time the club signed a right-back, spending £50 million on Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
The club’s recruitment team have a chance to offset this by paying an incredibly cheap fee for his potential replacement, Nordi Mukiele.
German outlet Fussball Transfers reported this week Manchester United are leading the race for Mukiele, who has just one year remaining on his RB Leipzig contract.
Now a new report from BILD report Mukiele could be available for just £8.5 million, a real bargain.
£8.5m asking price
BILD reports RB Leipzig have given up attempting to convince Mukiele to sign a contract extension and will not make him a new offer.
The report states they intend to sell Mukiele this summer and will consider offers of 10 million Euros (£8.5 million).
This is an incredibly tempting price for Manchester United, who are in need of a right-back after poor displays from Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka this season.
Mukiele, 24, earned his first international cap for France earlier this season and hopes to make his way into Didier Deschamps’ World Cup squad.
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Another right-back United have been linked to is Middlesbrough defender Djed Spence, on loan at Nottingham Forest.
The Mirror claims Spence would cost £20 million, which highlights what a bargain Mukiele is at his £8.5 million asking price, even if it were to creep up to £10 million.
For half the price, United could sign Mukiele, a player who has been capped for France, and has played 145 games for RB Leipzig, including 23 Champions League matches – while the more expensive Spence has never played above Championship level.
Looking for bargains will help United this summer, as there will not be a limitless amount of money to spend of new signings, and there are a lot of players required.
There might be one or two expensive deals, like Darwin Nunez for instance, but these will need to be offset by bargain moves too, and Mukiele’s £8.5m asking price fits the bill.
The other factor here is Ralf Rangnick, who brought Mukiele to RB Leipzig in the first place. He would be supportive of a move like this, and if the defender is a right-back new boss Erik ten Hag appreciates too, this is a deal which could move along very quickly.