Man Utd raise offer to £57m after Barcelona ‘reject’ first bid for Amorim ‘request’

Man Utd have upped their offer for France international Jules Kounde after Barcelona rejected their first offer, according to reports.

The Red Devils signed five new players in the summer transfer window in the form of Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte and Noussair Mazraoui.

It was another big outlay on players from Man Utd as they looked to give Erik ten Hag the tools to bring success to Old Trafford but the new recruits have so far struggled to settle into their new surroundings.

And new boss Ruben Amorim will be hoping to get the best out of the five new players after arriving at Old Trafford last week from Sporting Lisbon.

Amorim will have to implement his new 3-4-3 formation during a hectic schedule with concerns he may not have the players he needs to get the best out of his preferred tactics.

A previous report claimed that Barcelona defender Kounde – who can play at right-back and centre-back – was one of his ‘first requests’ on joining Man Utd.

And now reports in Spain claim that Kounde ‘continues to hold a privileged place on Jim Ratcliffe’s agenda’ after a €45m (£37.5m) bid ‘was rejected by Joan Laporta and Deco immediately’.

Man Utd ‘have tried their luck again’ and have ‘significantly improved this proposal, aware that the French international has increased in value thanks to the incredible performances he has performed under Hansi Flick’.

The Red Devils are now ‘willing to put on the table a total of 68 million euros (£57m)’ in order to land the 26-year-old, however ‘the response they have received has been the same’.

Barcelona ‘are not considering any offer that may come for him’ and ‘believe that there is no one on the market right now who can replace the defender’.

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Amorim has been left with a squad currently placed 13th in the Premier League with only Crystal Palace, Southampton and Everton scoring fewer goals this season.

When asked whether Ten Hag should have been sacked in the summer, former Man Utd striker Teddy Sheringham told Best Offshore Sportsbooks: “At the end of the day, we had enough of Ten Hag. I said he should have been gone ages ago.

“I’m surprised he lasted that long, especially with where he’s got Man United in the league. The Premier League is what it’s all about for Man United, for my liking. I know he won the FA Cup with one outstanding performance, but he should have gone in the summer.

“The decision to appoint Ruben Amorim is not before time. It looks like they’ve picked the best man, the right man for the job to come in. They must have thought long and hard about it, about where they were going to go. They got an extra two or three months to find the right man after clearly having doubts about Ten Hag in the summer.

“With the decision to bring him in, obviously there’s a few months gone in the season. It’s not the end of the world, that they’ve got a new manager in now. Things change very quickly. Everyone’s saying Man United are miles off of being the top club that they used to be, but if a manager comes in and gets it right, it can all change at Manchester United.”

When asked to pick one moment which epitomised Ten Hag’s reign at Man Utd, Sheringham added: “There were so many horrible moments under Ten Hag’s management. The Champions League capitulations when in front. The poor signings.

“If I had to pick one moment that summed up his failings at Manchester United, then I would go for the FA Cup semi-final performance against Coventry. It was a game where United are in total control and then from nowhere the wheels came off, the doors came off, the bonnet came off, everything came off and they were lucky to come through that and get to the final.

“The writing was on the wall there. You’re playing against a lower league team that you should canter to victory against; see out the game without a doubt. They couldn’t do it. That was a massive thing for a Manchester United team to lose their way in that game.”