Liverpool on pole for £51m Man Utd midfield target as ‘serious’ contact made

Liverpool are leading the race for Kaishu Sano

Liverpool lead Manchester United in the pursuit of Japan World Cup star Kaishu Sano, as per a report.

Liverpool and Man Utd are both in need of a new central midfielder this summer. Liverpool want extra competition for Ryan Gravenberch, while Curtis Jones is keen to leave in search of guaranteed starts.

Man Utd, meanwhile, require at least two midfield signings to revamp the position and replace the likes of Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte.

So far, the two Premier League giants have largely pursued different targets, but they have now seemingly converged on Mainz midfield boss Sano.

The 25-year-old has appeared on the radars of top clubs after shining for Japan at the World Cup, even scoring a great goal in their defeat to Brazil in the round of 32.

It emerged on June 30 that Liverpool are ‘showing strong interest’ in Sano.

German outlet Fussball Daten have now provided an update, claiming Liverpool are ‘considered frontrunners’ in the transfer chase as they have ‘the most concrete and serious interest’ in landing Sano.

Liverpool have attempted to get the jump on United, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund by ‘contacting the player’s representatives to explore personal terms and wage demands’.

Andoni Iraola’s side are also ‘preparing their financial allocation to approach Mainz’.

The report adds: ‘Manchester United want to address their structural lack of toughness in midfield by signing Sano, while Arsenal want to integrate this passing dynamo into their tactical system to suit their manager’s philosophy.

‘Both clubs are intensively analysing the player’s World Cup data through their scouting departments.’

In Germany, Dortmund are making the most ‘aggressive’ push to sign Sano.

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Kaishu Sano unlikely to be priority Liverpool target

Mainz want €50-60m (£43-51m) to sell Sano as they are protected by his contract, which runs for another two years.

While the 16-cap international has impressed both Liverpool and United, it would be a surprise if he is the top target for either club.

Liverpool have also shortlisted other midfielders such as Eduardo Camavinga, Adam Wharton and Khephren Thuram.

Camavinga is thought to be their dream signing, as he is a strong candidate to leave Real Madrid this summer.

There are conflicting reports on whether Liverpool will open talks for Wharton. It has been suggested the Reds might offer Crystal Palace a player-plus-cash deal for Wharton, despite seemingly cooling their interest recently.

United have missed out on the likes of Elliot Anderson and Mateus Fernandes, while Bournemouth are determined to keep Alex Scott.

Due to these factors, United are now eyeing Aurelien Tchouameni, Andrey Santos and Tyler Adams.

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