Man Utd 'move early to beat Barca' to signing of £26m-rated Real Betis star Fabian

Man Utd 'move early to beat Barca' to signing of £26m-rated Real Betis star Fabian

Manchester United have moved early in a bid to steal a march on Barcelona in the race for £26m-rated Real Betis star Fabian Ruiz.

That is according to reports in Spain, which say United have earmarked Ruiz as a potential replacement for Marouane Fellaini who continues to be linked with an exit from Old Trafford.

Ruiz played 32 times this term to help Betis to a sixth-placed finish, and he has also represented Spain at Under-21 level.

He has a €30million exit clause in his contract and United have reportedly moved to trigger it before Betis attempt to tie him down to fresh terms.

Manchester United lining up £30million move for Valencia right-back Joao Cancelo

Manchester United are considering a £30million move for Valencia right-back Joao Cancelo, writes Mirror Football's David McDonnell.

Portugal international Cancelo spent last season on loan at Inter Milan, who have a clause within the agreement to make the deal permanent.

But Inter have yet to take up that option, which has alerted United to Cancelo’s potential availability, with boss Jose Mourinho in the market for a new right-back.

United are also looking at Southampton’s Cedric Soares, but Cancelo has emerged as another option to provide competition for current right-back Antonio Valencia.

Mourinho wants to sign two new full-backs this summer, with United moving closer to a £50m deal for Juventus left-back Alex Sandro, with Luke Shaw, Daley Blind and Matteo Darmian all set to leave Old Trafford.

United are also keen to tie up a deal for Shakhtar Donetsk’s £50m-rated midfielder Fred before he flies to Russia for World Cup duty with Brazil.

Brazil take on Croatia in a World Cup warm-up game at Anfield on June 3, with United keen to close the deal while Fred is in the north-west of England.

Manchester United dealt transfer blow as Juventus chief insists Italians set to agree new deal with Alex Sandro

Manchester United's hopes of signing Juventus star Alex Sandro have taken a massive hit - after the Serie A giants' chief insisted he is positive of agreeing a deal next week, writes Mirror Football's Alex Smith.

Jose Mourinho had been planning to lure left-back Sandro to Old Trafford this summer as a replacement for Luke Shaw and Matteo Darmian.

The England left-back has struggled for game time once again under the Red Devils boss this season and is seemingly all out of chances, while Italian Darmian is expected to move to Juve.

Sandro is currently under contract at Allianz Stadium until 2020 but is set for talks with Juve bosses next week to extend his stay.

And CEO Giuseppe Marrotta is confident he will be able to entice Sandro to stay.

He said: "We will meet next week with his representative and I think there's a desire to extend the contract."