are considering a move for Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves after hijacked a deal for star Frenkie de Jong.
United agreed a £63m deal with Barcelona for De Jong around five weeks ago but the Catalans owe the Dutchman £17m in deferred wages, which has held up any exit from the Camp Nou.
In any case, De Jong is keen to stay at the club and a move to Old Trafford is not said to appeal to the former playmaker, who is not interested in playing in the Europa League.
United have spent much of the summer trying to convince De Jong to make move and they had hoped that his relationship with Erik ten Hag would eventually persuade the Dutchman to do so.
However, Chelsea have waited patiently in the wings before making a move for the Dutchman and they’ve now made their move, with the Blues said to be ‘optimistic’ over completing the transfer.
Chelsea can offer De Jong the opportunity to play Champions League football, while living in London is said to appeal to the Dutchman.
Losing out on De Jong would be a crushing blow for Ten Hag, while it would mark the worst possible start to the new era that John Murtough and Richard Arnold had hoped to usher in.
However, say United have already identified a plan B and they could move for Neves if a move for De Jong fails to materialise.
The Portuguese midfielder is valued at around £80m by Wolves but the club are aware of his desire to move on after five years in the Midlands.
Neves was a target for the club under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and he’s remained on United’s radar for the last two years.
The 25-year-old wouldn’t need any time to settle in the Premier League given he’s spent the last four years playing in the top flight and he’s international team-mates with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.
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