Manchester United Transfer News: Big-Money Deals Eyed, Top Deadline Day Rumours

Manchester United are set to capture Dani Alves from Barcelona in the wake of the Brazilian's former team-mate Victor Valdes joining the Red Devils.

Alves' potential transfer will ruin Liverpool's chances of grabbing Blaugrana defender Martin Montoya, as Luis Enrique's side would be left short in light of the club's current transfer ban until January 2016.

Jamie Anderson of the Express says Alves' move to United will scupper any deal for Montoya, but the player's agent, Juan De Dios Carrasco, has proclaimed his client is desperate to leave.

"Martin Montoya wants to leave Barcelona," the agent said. "The coach decides who plays, but if Martin does not play he will leave. We do not want to argue about who is to blame, it is just important that Montoya wants to go already."

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Alves is out of contract at the Camp Nou at the end of the season, and the player's agent has confirmed the right-back has a host of offers to mull over.

Dinorah Santana, who represents Alves and is his former wife, was reported by AS, via Football-Espana.net, as saying the player would continue giving his best for Barca but now has decisions to make about his future.

"He will give his all while he is here, that’s all I can say," Santana said. "We’d like to stay but we’ll have to see. He may renew but if he needs to move on he will do. Sometimes things come to an end and there has been interest from other clubs."

It is questionable whether Louis van Gaal would want a player who clearly looked past his best at the recent World Cup, which saw him demoted to bench as the tournament progressed.

However, Enrique has continued to keep faith with Brazilian, and the 31-year-old has seen plenty of game time for Barca this term.

Alves has started 20 matches in La Liga and the Champions League this season, per WhoScored.com, suggesting the full-back still has much to offer a good football team.

But football writer Liam Twomey questioned United's links with an ageing individual such as Alves, hinting the faithful will not be happy at seeing the Red Devils chase expensive, older stars:

In other deadline news, Anthony Chapman of the Express reports United will make a last minute January transfer swoop for two Bundesliga stars: Kevin De Bruyne and Mats Hummels.

Chapman says LvG believes playmaker De Bruyne would fit his 4-4-2 diamond formation "perfectly" and is ready to make a huge £30 million offer to purchase the player on Monday.

Chapman also says Hummels remains a huge priority for the Red Devils and will "test [Borussia] Dortmund's resolve with a take-it-or-leave-it bid of £37 million."

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Both De Bruyne and Hummels would be excellent captures and would add technical value to United's squad as it pushes for a top-four finish.

Van Gaal knows his only target is to get the Old Trafford team back into the Champions League, and moves for the Bundesliga pair make sense.

However, it is very late in the day to see two massive deals like this come to fruition, and surely both Wolfsburg and BVB would be unwilling sellers as they focus on their own ambitions.