Manchester United’s pursuit of a new left-back may become that little bit easier thanks to Real Madrid, with the La Liga leaders inadvertently opening the door for Miguel Gutierrez to end up in the Premier League.
Seven years after Jose Mourinho tried and failure to lure a teenage Miguel Gutierrez to Old Trafford, the Red Devils are returning with a vengeance.
Or, at least, that is what Thursday’s report from Mundo Deportivo may suggest. Manchester United, they write, have scouted Gutierrez regularly over the last few months, the ‘incredible‘ former Spain under-21 international’s searing pace, his tough-tackling style and his impressive end-product meaning he possesses many of the attributes required for a modern-day, elite-level full-back.
Gutierrez release clause
Gutierrez also has a £30 million release clause in his Girona contract. Affordable, certainly, assuming Man United can ease the Financial Fair Play concerns which cost Erik ten Hag his chance to bring in another striker during January.
Of course, the presence of a smaller, £7 million buy-back clause – one which can be exercised by Real Madrid should they wish to bring back a player who honed his talents in the Spanish capital before moving to Catalonia – threatens to complicate matters. Or, at least, it would have done had Real not set their sights on luring Alphonso Davies to the Santiago Bernabeu instead.
It is not quite Kylian Mbappe levels of obvious – his France team-mate Ibrahima Konate had a point when he quipped recently that ‘we all know where (Mbappe) is going’ with his PSG contract expiring – but Davies to Real Madrid feels, if not yet a done deal, then not too far off.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports that Real have reached a verbal agreement with Bayern Munich’s jet-heeled Canada international. And, with his deal expiring in 2025, Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen has intimated that the Bundesliga champions would prefer to cash in now rather than lose the reportedly £43 million-rated Davies for nothing 12 months later.
“He is a player who has developed excellently on the left side thanks to his pace and character,” Dreesen tells BILD.
“No club wants to lose players for free. I have to see how the situation is.”
Luke Shaw out for the season
Even if Ferland Mendy leaves the Bernabeu to make way for Davies, Real Madrid already have Fran Garcia as a more-than-capable, and still-only-24-year-old, back-up. Even at Real Madrid, a club stockpiling future superstars like a doomdsay prepper stocks canned goods, three left-backs feels a little excessive.
So if Manchester United plan to go all in on Gutierrez – identifying the Spaniard as a potential long-term successor for the injury-prone and crocked-again Luke Shaw – the Red Devils probably have little to fear in the way of a Real Madrid hijacking.
READ MORE: Join the conversation with the United in Focus Whatsapp group
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
