Manchester United are yet to confirm their first signing of the summer with Mason Mount's arrival at Old Trafford set to be announced imminently, but now the club have agreed terms with another transfer target.
What's the latest on Man United's interest in Sofyan Amrabat?
According to La Nazione (via Sport Witness), Man United have agreed personal terms with Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat.
As per the report, it is claimed that the Red Devils are strongly interested in signing the player this summer and have already found an agreement with Amrabat but will need to convince his Serie A club to part ways with their star, which would cost €30m (£26m) this summer.
Who would Amrabat replace in the Man United team?
Whilst Erik ten Hag's top priority will be to strengthen the centre-forward role ahead of next season, there is no doubt that the midfield personnel could benefit from a refresh this summer.
Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Fred are all in their 30s at this point, so injecting some more youthful long-term prospects in the centre of the pitch would be advantageous in the manager's pursuit to get Man United consistently winning trophies and challenging for the Premier League title again.
As a result, the signing of Amrabat would be a great piece of business for Ten Hag if the club can reach an agreement with Fiorentina, as he could be a worthy competitor for Fred in the deep-lying role alongside Casemiro next season.
When comparing the Serie A star with his Brazilian positional peer last season, Amrabat comfortably outperformed Fred in a number of key attributes including pass completion rate (88.8% v 79.1%), percentage of tacklers dribbled (55.2% v 39.5%), successful take-ons (70.6% v 37.5%), progressive passes (176 v 76) and ball recoveries (157 v 127), as per FBref.
This demonstrates that the ball-playing defensive midfielder – hailed "outstanding" by Joe Cole – would provide Ten Hag with a much more solid and consistent option to bring into midfield next season and a player who can build a much-needed partnership with Casemiro in front of the back four that can be trusted.
According to WhoScored, Fred was the seventh lowest-rated player (6.48) in the entire squad last season and was slammed by Roy Keane after his lack of discipline gave Kevin de Bruyne a free-kick in a dangerous position which ultimately killed their hopes of winning the FA Cup at Wembley last month.
"Fred had Kevin De Bruyne where he wants him," the former Man United captain told ITV Sport.
"De Bruyne has his back to goal and then Fred fouls him. It's the height of stupidity. But we've seen that from him so many times over the years."
With that being said, it would be a major coup if Man United could secure the services of Amrabat to bolster the midfield options, as he is the exact profile of player that the team is crying out for and could significantly improve how clinical the midfield needs to be when it matters most.