Manchester United Transfer News: Latest Rumours on Dries Mertens, Ivan Perisic

Manchester United reportedly had Serie A duo Dries Mertens and Ivan Perisic scouted in April ahead of the summer transfer window.

According to Alessandra Stefanelli of Tuttomercatoweb (h/t Stuart Ballard of the Express), United watched both players on Sunday as Napoli faced Inter Milan, with Mertens in action for the former and Perisic the latter.

Mertens is believed to have a £30 million buyout clause in Naples while Inter believe Perisic is worth £55 million.

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Perisic is the younger of the two having turned 28 in February, while Mertens turns 30 on Saturday, but the Belgian would be the stronger option of the two—particularly if he's significantly cheaper.

Both players ostensibly ply their trades on the left wing, but Mertens has thrived this season since moving up front and has enjoyed the most prolific campaign of his career with 28 goals in all competitions. 

Here are some of his highlights:

United are in need of more firepower this summer with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's future unclear, Anthony Martial struggling to build on his excellent first season at Old Trafford and Marcus Rashford an excellent prospect but perhaps not yet reliable as the primary goal-getter for a club with title ambitions.

Mertens' ability to play out wide or as a striker—and rack up plenty of goals while doing so—would make him a strong candidate.

As for Perisic, he is enjoying a strong season for Inter, if nowhere near as sensational as Mertens'. The Croatian does put in more defensive work than the Belgian, though, per Squawka:

	Mertens	Perisic
Apps	30	31
Minutes	2,146	2,395
Goals	22	10
Assists	5	5
Chances Created	44	49
Take-Ons	54	36
Headed Duels	3	48
Tackles	11	31
Interceptions	6	29
Pass Completion	77%	71%

Serie A expert David Amoyal is an admirer of Perisic:

Football writer Liam Canning believes United aren't desperate for his services, though:

Indeed, the Red Devils have a much greater need for central firepower thanks to the likes of Martial and Henrikh Mkhitaryan being able to operate on the flanks.

While Perisic is a good player, Mertens appears to be both a better and a cheaper option—if United are to pursue one of the two this summer, it's a no-brainer who they should go for.