- Aymeric Laporte has a buyout clause of £31.5million
- Twenty-year-old central defender is a France international
- Real Madrid see Laporte as a possible replacement for Pepe
- United will have to make a world-record bid to sign PSG's Marquinhos
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Manchester
United and Real Madrid are going head-to-head for the signature of
Athletic Bilbao's central defender Aymeric Laporte.
The
20-year-old France Under 21 international has been on United's radar
for the past couple of seasons - with their well-documented defensive
problems yet to be solved.
But
with Pepe getting older and Sergio Ramos debating a new contract,
Madrid have made the first steps to taking him to the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid and Manchester United are both interested in signing Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte
Laporte has been on United's radar for the past couple of seasons as they look to bolster their defence
20-year-old central defender (right) has a buyout clause of £31.5million at the Basque club
The
deal won't be cheap though with Bilbao refusing to negotiate and
typically pointing to his buyout clause of £31.5m plus the VAT.
Laporte has potential and is a great athlete but is still a little raw.
Another
option for Madrid is Inigo Martinez at Sociedad. David Moyes' side are
keen on Madrid's former Sociedad midfielder Aser Illarramendi and a deal
could be done in the summer unless he opts to go abroad.
Elsewhere,
United have been warned they may have to break the world record fee for
a defender after also enquiring about Paris Saint-Germain defender
Marquinhos.
United
stumbled through a 0-0 draw at Cambridge United in the FA Cup fourth
round on Friday which left more questions about the strength of their
squad and their defence continues to look fragile.
They have sounded out the French champions ahead of a possible summer move for the stylish Marquinhos.
Manager
Louis van Gaal has drawn up a list of potential targets and the
Brazilian is among those names, however, they have been warned the
defender won't come cheap.
Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Marquinhos has been linked with a move away from the French champions
The
20-year-old central defender joined PSG 18 months ago from Roma in a
£23.4million deal but has found himself playing at right-back to
accommodate the arrival of David Luiz this season.
United
value Marquinhos at around £30million but PSG have laughed off those
figures and United would have to supass the £50m fee PSG paid to Chelsea
for Luiz to get him.
His
agent Giuliano Bertolucci said: 'Last summer, PSG's president Nasser
Al-Khelaifi declared that Marquinhos was unsellable. We will see what
their position is this summer. Many clubs are interested in the player.
Manchester United are one of them, this is true.'
Marquinhos appeals to Van Gaal as he can play in a four or three-man defensive line and is comfortable in possession.
United predictably are being quoted huge sums for their defensive targets as they weigh up options for the summer.
Atletico
Madrid's Diego Godin would be £28.5m, Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels
will command £30m and Nicolas Otamendi at Valencia has also been
discussed but the Spanish side want his buy-out figure of £37m.
The 20-year-old is under contract until 2018, but Manchester United are said to be interested in him
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