Manchester United Transfer News: Latest on Moussa Dembele, Lionel Messi Rumours

Manchester United reportedly scouted Celtic star Moussa Dembele when he played for France's Under-21s on Monday.

According to the Daily Mail's Amitai Winehouse, the Red Devils sent David Friio to witness the striker bag an impressive brace against England's under-21s, calmly firing home in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper before curling home a sumptuous free-kick.

United boss Jose Mourinho is believed to be an admirer of Dembele—whom he believes to be reminiscent of a young Didier Drogba—and watched him play three times for Fulham last year.

Per OptaCan, he had an impressive season with the Cottagers:

Despite that, the 20-year-old striker cost the Scottish club just £500,000 in the summer, and they've already been handsomely rewarded for their investment, per WhoScored.com:

The youngster is a potent blend of pace, power and clinical finishing, while his technical skills are also developing well.

Here's a look at what he could bring to Old Trafford:

BBC Sport's Tom English also bore witness to his brace on Monday and he believes Dembele's value has significantly increased in recent months:

As Winehouse noted, Celtic naturally want to keep him beyond January, while Dembele himself is likely to want to at least see out the season and fire them to the Scottish Premiership title.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Bayern Munich also watched him play on Monday, however, so he'll likely attract a great many suitors when he inevitably does make the step up from Celtic to a higher level—there's no guarantee United will be able to land him, but if they do they'll have pulled off an impressive coup.

Meanwhile, the Red Devils appear to have accepted they would not be the favourites to land Barcelona star Lionel Messi should he ever leave the Camp Nou.

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

According to an exclusive from the Sun's Daniel Cutts, United believe Pep Guardiola's presence at City would put them in the lead for Messi as they could offer the chance to reunite with his former mentor.

Per Cutts, an unnamed source at the club said:

"

City would be the favourites if he were to one day leave, but we would obviously love the sign a player of that level.

We can certainly compete on the cash front and Messi is an Adidas player like Paul Pogba, so we have our pluses.

But all the same, we would not get involved in any bidding war unless Messi’s camp gave an indication that he was willing to come here.

"

Messi inspired Argentina to a crucial 3-0 win over Colombia on Tuesday, opening the scoring with a delightful free-kick, per TyC Sports:

Indeed, despite their wealth of talent, Messi has nevertheless taken on a talismanic role for La Albiceleste:

He is similarly important for Barca and has notched 18 goals in 17 appearances for club and country this season.

The Blaugrana will not entertain the thought of him leaving at all, though, per President Josep Maria Bartomeu:

Indeed, as tempting as a reunion with Guardiola might be—or a new challenge at Old Trafford—it's unlikely Messi will ever leave Barcelona aside from making a romantic return to boyhood club Newell's Old Boys.

While it means United may never get him, they don't have to worry too much their rivals will either.