Man Utd ‘decide on £69m transfer’ as Sir Jim Ratcliffe makes early statement | Football | Sport

Manchester United are reportedly looking at alternative transfer targets instead of Juventus centre-back Gleison Bremer as the Serie A club demand around £69million for his signature. Sir Jim Ratcliffe is working to change the culture at Old Trafford, including recruitment and eradicating the so-called ‘United tax’ in the market.

The Red Devils have been among the biggest spenders in Europe since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, but the simultaneous departure of David Gill led to a decade of reckless decisions.

Ed Woodward and Richard Arnold’s strategy of throwing money as big-name players has failed chiefly and left Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag with poorly constructed squads.

The term ‘United tax’ originates from the club being drained of excessive transfer fees simply because of their stature and the common knowledge that their vast revenues allow big budgets.

But Ratcliffe has repeated his intentions to end overinflated deals, such as the £86m paid for Antony, £80m splashed on Harry Maguire, and £70m thrown at Real Madrid for Casemiro.

His determination to make United work brighter than bigger under the club’s new-look structure appears to have ended the possibility of a strongly linked transfer.

According to GiveMeSport, Juventus value Bremer in the region of £69m and have the Brazilian under contract for four more years.

United are on the hunt for centre-back reinforcements this summer, but they aren’t prioritising a big-money deal for the 27-year-old.

Instead, the report adds that the M16 giants have already made progress in pursuing alternative targets, with links to Bremer dismissed as being pushed by Italian sources.

Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans are out of contract in June and could depart as free agents, leaving Ten Hag without two of his key defenders this season.

Meanwhile, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof are entering the final 12 months of their current deals, which could convince United to offload either if a suitable offer arrives.