Ten Hag in dreamland as Real Madrid ditch move for world’s best player to leave Man Utd in clear for colossal signing

Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe England v France at World Cup

Manchester United have been given a phenomenal opportunity to sign a world-class star after Real Madrid reportedly dropped their interest in him and began pursuing another player.

Real have a habit of either poaching the best players from the Premier League or beating them to the biggest of signings. In previous years the La Liga giants have signed top players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois from English teams.

And they are hoping to do the same with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland. According to Spanish outlet AS, Real have begun plotting ‘operation Haaland’.

They have apparently decided on the striker as their main transfer target for summer 2024. They want to create an incredible front three consisting of Haaland, Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe.

However, Football Espana, who cite fresh reports coming out of Spain, have cast doubt over whether Paris Saint-Germain’s Mbappe will end up joining Los Blancos.

It has been suggested that Real will drop their interest in the Frenchman, who is arguably the best player in the world right now. Instead, Real have started to go after Atalanta’s Rasmus Hojlund.

The Dane has been dubbed ‘the next Erling Haaland’. At just 20 years of age he has scored 14 goals for Sturm Graz and Atalanta this campaign.

Real have been keeping tabs on Hojlund’s development and are considering making an offer for him. Coincidentally, Hojlund has also been linked with a move to the Premier League, as Arsenal and Newcastle rate him very highly.

Real Madrid want Arsenal target instead of Kylian Mbappe

But those two English clubs may lose out to Real if the reigning Champions League winners go big in their pursuit of Hojlund.

Real pursuing Hojlund rather than Mbappe will be music to the ears of Ten Hag. Carlo Ancelotti’s side have widely been viewed as Mbappe’s next destination, once the star decides to leave PSG.

But with Real out of the picture, Man Utd can step up their ambitious plans to snare the future Ballon d’Or winner.

Mbappe would be an incredible signing for the Old Trafford-based club. At 24 he has already become PSG’s all-time record scorer, having netted 202 goals in 250 matches.

There are not many attackers in the world who can match Mbappe in terms of his keen eye for goal or his ability to breeze past defenders.

It must be noted that Man Utd will probably only be able to sign Mbappe if their big-money takeover goes through.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani are the leading candidates to buy Man Utd from the Glazer family.

Both parties are extremely wealthy and would therefore be able to pump hundreds of millions of pounds into Ten Hag’s transfer budget, although they would have to watch out for Financial Fair Play regulations.

Ratcliffe or Sheikh Jassim taking over the club would hand Man Utd the finances to sign Mbappe and potentially meet his wage demands. It would then be down to Ten Hag to convince the player on his project.

Meanwhile, Barcelona have held a meeting with one of their players after learning about Man Utd’s interest in capturing him.