United have two options in reserve if their long-running pursuit for Sporting Lisbon fails.

Ed Woodward has Leicester City and Aston Villa star in mind if they could not seal agreement for Bruno Fernandes.

From the very beginning, United are chasing Sporting Lisbon star, Bruno Fernandes. The playmaker is a top transfer target for United this month. The transfer saga continues in the January transfer window with a move to Old Trafford since the start of the late summer.

The Red Devils were very close to reach an agreement for Fernandes last week but talks stopped suddenly over the transfer fee.

Reports claim that the deal stalled because it includes the loaning of any two United player to Sporting in exchange of Bruno Fernandes.

The name includes Marcos Rojo, Joel Pereira and Andreas Pereira were all rumoured to make a loan move to Portuguese side in order to secure the signing of Fernandes.

The Red Devils made the signing of Bruno Fernandes as their priority following the concerns for the weak Midfield and injuries Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba.

Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s side were only willing to pay £50m upfront with a further £15m in add-ons, that reflects the Vue of the player. But Sporting Lisbon however, have hiked up the valuation to £68m immediately for their starlet.

United have kept two options in reserve if they fail in signing their long-running pursuit. The deal could fail due to Sporting Lisbon’s financial demands that United are unwilling to fulfil.

To cope up with the situation Ed Woodward and the head members have Leicester playmaker James Maddison and Aston Villa star Jack Grealish in mind.

Pundits opinion for the alternative

Paul Merson expressed his views regarding Jack Grealish from Aston Villa who seems to be a more favourable option to go with.

The England star is in sparkling form this season and yesterday he netted in the 1-1 draw with Brighton.

Merson told :

“Forget Bruno Fernandes. Manchester United should be trying to sign Jack Grealish.”

He is one of the top ten players in the Premier League right now. He is absolutely different class and would walk into almost any other Premier League team.

Author’s take:

The overall performance of Bruno Fernandes suggests that the young talent is good enough for United and will fix the midfield at Old Trafford. But with regards to this league, he has never played before. As for Grealish, he has played it and ripping it every week.