Manchester United Transfer News: Latest Joao Mario, Robert Lewandowski Rumours

Manchester City will reportedly rival Manchester United in pursuit of Sporting Club’s creative star Joao Mario. 

The midfielder is noted as having a release clause in his contract amounting to £40 million, with the Red Devils said to have been keeping tabs on the Portugal international, per A Bola (h/t Aaron Flanagan of the Sunday Mirror). However, it’s also reported City have been keeping an eye on the 23-year-old playmaker lately.

It’s been an exciting campaign for Mario, who has been at the core of a tremendous title challenge from Sporting. Here are some of his finest moments from 2015-16:

He’s a player who would immediately add a more incisive attacking edge to either of the Manchester clubs. Mario is adept at picking the ball up in pockets and playing threatening balls forward. The Portugal star can also fill a variety of different roles on the field, as he's able to influence the game from wide positions, a deeper berth or off the centre-forward.

As Sport Witness’ Jan Hagen noted here, Mario has caused quite a stir in his home country with a run of excellent displays:

He’s the kind of player who could make a big impact at Old Trafford. With the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard, the Red Devils have a lot of players who run with the ball vertically with pace. Mario’s ability to thread passes through gaps would enrich the qualities of such a dynamic forward line.

It’s easy to see why next City manager Pep Guardiola may also be keen on bringing him to the blue side of Manchester, though, as the Portuguese is a perfect fit for the way in which the illustrious coach wants his teams to play football.

Robert Lewandowski Blow for United

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Manchester United’s chances of landing Robert Lewandowski have reportedly suffered a major setback, with Real Madrid said to be eyeing the Bayern Munich man as a replacement for Karim Benzema.

That’s according to Harry Pratt of the Daily Star on Sunday, who stated Los Blancos will move the Frenchman on, thus paving the way for a Lewandowski pursuit. That’ll reportedly end United’s chances of landing the £80 million striker and those of their local rivals Manchester City, who have also been linked with the Poland international.

While Bayern fell short in pursuit of the UEFA Champions League, on the domestic front it’s been another season to remember, as they clinched their fourth title in a row on Saturday.

The goals scored by Lewandowski have been critical to this success, as he netted another brace in the decisive match against FC Ingolstadt. Squawka Football put his goalscoring feats into context:

Here is a reminder of just how well the former Borussia Dortmund man has performed so far this season:

With goals scored at such a frequent rate, it’s little surprise there’s a clamour from across the continent to land the striker.

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United might find it difficult to see a deal getting done. At the moment, they’re the third-most attractive proposition of the teams mentioned, with Real carrying a gravitas and Guardiola, who has got the best out of Lewandowski at Bayern, heading to the Etihad Stadium.

Encouragingly for United they do have a lot of firepower in their ranks. As journalist Teddy Cutler noted recently, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are an exciting duo:

Still, Lewandowski would be a statement signing and an immediate upgrade at the point of the attack. The Red Devils would surely be in for the player if Bayern did opt to sell, but the German juggernauts are a side that are rarely swayed when it comes to selling footballers they want to keep around. Lewandowski surely falls into that bracket.